Coronavirus outbreak all over the world has severe economic consequences, and it has become apparent. Many economies and markets are already showing signs of severe downtime, with falling prices of shares and stock market crashes. Both local and international businesses are affected, and there are predictions that it will get even worse, thus prompting governments around the world to map out multi-billions as social intervention funds to keep their citizens afloat.
We have also seen that coronavirus has affected travels and tours, as many countries have issued a ban against people with legitimate right of entry into their country. Some countries have issued ban against people wanting to enter their country from certain countries with high cases of coronavirus. Nigeria has taken this bold step and restricted movements into Nigeria from thirteen countries.
What many people don’t see coming is that coronavirus will eventually redefine the democratic system of government as it is known in the world today. Among other things, coronavirus has exposed the depth of humanity’s weakness and difficulty to self-regulate.
It doesn’t matter how developed or not the country may be, the fact is, the bulk of humanity does not seem capable of looking after its wellness, without being regulated. Many people still live in severe unawareness and have now shown to lack the ability to make all the right decisions for themselves. For instance, even in the United States, people still go about their businesses and engage in a public gathering, despite the imminent threat of death, thereby making the virus to spread to 50 US states in less than two weeks. Like, what could be more important than life?
The same situation is being reported around the world. People still fail to maintain high personal hygiene and stay away from public gatherings. These are the significant reasons the virus has continued to spread almost with the speed of light. Despite this perilous situation, people still travel from, for instance, London to Nigeria. Without careful attention to the possible danger such travel exposes their lives to, and the lives of their loved ones, family, friends, and even strangers.
What will happen if the government allowed people to exercise their freedom of movement, live freely, and continue to travel at will, without a ban or any form of restrictions? People will inevitably continue to go and move freely, not minding the peril and immense hazard they could cause to themselves and others, including those they love. Consider how the virus came to Nigeria; first, it was Italian.
A man who left Italy at the peak of the outbreak in that country and came to Nigeria, yet he could not go on self-isolation, thereby transporting the virus into Nigeria. Then, Nigerians came in from the US and London, where the virus has killed thousands and spreading fast. This is the same pattern, and in the same manner, the virus has been spread across the world. Yet again in Nigeria, another man from Malaysia has been in isolation, he also came in from one more outbreak spot in Southeast Asia.
Now, it is palpable that most people across the globe cannot take the rational decision in a desperate situation like the outbreak has presented. People seem to lack the self-regulation required to limit and control epidemics like this, without infringement imposed by the government. Like, in Italy, the travel ban has been effective, and yielding results as virus infection has gone down. France is equally implementing a strict border control and travel ban.
All these measures hamper on freedom of movement, which is otherwise a right, but it has become necessary considering that people could not do the needful to stop further spread of the virus. Even the US and Canada have now agreed to close the border for ‘nonessential traffic’. In Europe, Belgium has joined France and Italy to close its borders. All these measures may appear undemocratic and direct interference with people’s rights, but they are necessary to preserve humanity.
Notably, some of the worst-hit countries are countries with thriving democracies. North Korea, for instance, has rarely reported any case of coronavirus. Many reports say the country insists it has zero cases. And this is North Korea with one of the worst dictatorships.
Meanwhile, its neighbour, South Korea, one of the worst places hit by coronavirus, has over eight thousand cases of infection and almost a hundred dead. Yet North Korea has no reported outbreak, and even if it be difficult for the country to admit it has a case, if there is an outbreak in North Korea, it will not continue to be hidden. Essentially, it appears governments around the world have to take some non-democratic steps to be able to guard her citizens and ensure the safety of other people. Governments around the world had to suspend some rights of her citizens and others who otherwise have legal grounds to come into their countries, before people can comply.
What this portends for the future of democracy is that democracy, as known and practiced today, will be more regulated by the government. Democracies will experience more and more government involvement in the way people live and conduct their businesses to ensure they are protected from themselves and from others too.
The future of democracy will look like constitutional autocracy; it will be a mixture of more government interference in what used to be rights, as well as control of what people once enjoyed as freedom and benefits of democratization.
- 1 2th June’s Promise, Broken Chains - June 12, 2025
- Anambra Guber: Opposition Intensifies as Soludo Faces Escalating Political Heat - June 10, 2025
- The Novice Advantage: Rethinking Graduate Readiness in a Demanding Job Market - June 9, 2025