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Social and Community Cohesion Amidst of COVID-19 Pandemic

Countries
Nigeria
Sources
Nextier SPD
Publication date
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As the COVID-19 global pandemic ravages the entire world, enforcing non-pharmaceutical guidelines to contain its spread is an arduous task for most countries. Developing nations like Nigeria are tremendously faced with the immense responsibility of implementing some of the COVID-19 guidelines to save its estimated 200 million people from the disease. Many knowledge experts have taken considerable time to analyse the situation as it affects different dimensions of its national life. An important aspect to look at is how the COVID-19 pandemic affects social and community cohesion in the country.

Generally speaking, most COVID-19 prevention guidelines are rather anti-social as they strongly advise maintenance of social and physical distancing within and among people to curb the spread of the virus. Human interactions and activities that involve physical meetings and engagements have been suspended by both Federal and state governments as a result of the pandemic. This is in contrast to social cohesion, which is simply the extent of interconnectedness and solidarity among groups in society. The general idea behind social cohesion is to reduce socioeconomic and sociocultural inequalities and disparities that exist within societies. Nigeria’s heterogeneity is an old tale. The country has about 250 ethnic groups with three recognised religions and over 500 languages. Community-level social cohesion in Nigeria remains a topical subject matter as the country is bedevilled with many instability-laden challenges which include but not limited to tribalism, religious bigotry and war, indigene-settler dichotomy, inter-communal wars, secessionist agitations, boundary disputes, amongst others.

Achieving community-level social cohesion becomes a difficult task in the face of the pandemic. With people strongly cautioned to stay at home and avoid all forms of social gatherings, engagements and interactions, it ultimately affects the idea of community cohesion which aims to promote bonding and togetherness among community members. Some of the methods by which community cohesion are usually achieved include sporting events, schools, places of worship, community outreaches, campaigns and convention, cultural and entertainment programmes that tend to bring communities together or advance the interconnectedness between and among them. For instance, the orientation exercise of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has been indefinitely suspended. The orientation exercise is part of a one year scheme designed to promote cross-cutting relations between fresh Nigerian graduates. These events are largely physical and social. With the current pandemic and the guidelines being enforced, the success of existing community-based social cohesion programmes may be greatly threatened. For example, in some communities in the North-east region of Nigeria, community cohesion has helped some communities in the war zone to develop coping mechanisms and resilience capabilities against the jihadist violence and its overwhelming impact.

Interestingly, community cohesion may also improve due to the pandemic. As the world battles the novel virus, people are beginning to seek ways to adapt to the new normal. People are engaging in charitable activities to help vulnerable people survive the harsh realities that come with the pandemic and the guidelines in place. Already existing community-level structures that serve as the engine rooms of community cohesion, especially in the conflict areas, are familiar with some of the existential challenges that the pandemic may have triggered. For instance, community-level groups in the Lake Chad Basin that have known jihadist violence for over ten years have taken up distinct roles to improve collaborations within and among their communities. Some of their activities have also helped to strengthen community cohesion in where there are religious and cultural disparities, according to a 2019 Nextier SPD study. Furthermore, the existence of these prevailing community-based structures can be leveraged on in these trying times. First, utilising such engine rooms of community cohesion especially in conflict-prone areas will help to preserve their existence and relevance as long as the pandemic lasts. The bigger advantage is that, while these existing groups are helping to enforce COVID-19 guidelines, their original roles as actors of community cohesion will still be functional.

Although it may be difficult to maintain community cohesion in conflict zones during the pandemic, it is not an impossibility. It is important to identify peace-building actors and other stakeholders involved in conflict recovery and other activities that culminate to community cohesion. The idea is that the very essence of activities and roles of actors that promote community cohesion should not wane as a result of the pandemic. Specifically, government and other relevant bodies that are involved in engendering community cohesion across all the divides that exist within the Nigerian society should seek new ways of overcoming the new challenges. First, community or social cohesion is fostered by a perceived sense of the credibility of government affairs by the people. Therefore, government should see that the distribution of palliatives and all other government programmes during the pandemic is evenly implemented without favouring or marginalising one group or groups over others. Perceptions of marginalisation or lack of even distribution of public goods tend to widen the gulf that exists between different groups that make up the Nigerian society. Notwithstanding, the pandemic and its precautionary guidelines may affect social or community cohesion in Nigeria, but with proper planning and envisaging existing platforms that promote cohesion, government can cushion its impact and open up new vistas that aid cohesion.