WE GOT NO COVID” POLITICS AND COVID-19 MANAGEMENT IN KOGI STATE, CENTRAL NIGERIA, 2019 -2020

We got no COVID” has become a satirical phrase in the discourse of COVID-19 and its management in Kogi State, Central Nigeria. The phrase was boisterously uttered by the governor of Kogi State when the State was in the spotlight for possible contraction of the global coronavirus pandemic especially when the first high-profile case in Nigeria who attended a social event in Kogi State was diagnosed to have contracted the disease a week later. This paper seeks to examine the politics, drama, and tragedy that accompanied the handling and management of COVID-19 in the state. While adopting the interdisciplinary method in this research, it will make extensive use of primary sources such as interviews, newspaper cuttings and official press releases. It will also make use of secondary sources to boost the paper while presenting it in a thematic manner. The paper argues that the COVID-19 saga in Kogi state was enthralled in secrecy, politics and ambiguity as the common citizen do not know what and who to believe which compounded their psychological state and their perception of the pandemic. Findings reveal however that Kogi State which is the gateway between the north and south of the country had different people from contracted states having stopovers in Lokoja the state capital, and even attend social functions especially marriage ceremonies in the state where the NCDC COVID-19 safety regulations were flagrantly abused. However, findings in the paper further reveal that despite this intermingling, several people had bottles of alcohol-based hand sanitizers in their pockets and bags which they use intermittently. The paper recommends that transparency, citizen advocacy and fairness be deployed in managing issues of national and global concern.