AfricaPress-Tanzania: HUMAN nature dictates that, the people of a given country are most endeared to their country, passionately characterised as “the motherland’.
This has been the norm over the years since God created the world, human beings being among His precious creations. There’s something quite compelling in the endearment referred to above.
It is jealously; That, propelled by patriotic sentiments, the people of a given country become enraged when their sovereignty is threatened.
The act of even a few soldiers of the army of ‘Country A’ straying into ‘Country B’, even by a few kilometers, and even accidentally, is bound to be perceived as an act of aggression, unless or until the air is cleared.
By extension, the government of a given nation that holds its nationals dear becomes concerned whenever there are reports of even a few of its nations being mistreated elsewhere.
It swiftly swings into action to establish what’s up, to straighten things up. Thanks to international, regional and inter-state diplomatic engagements, however, many countries strive to co-exist harmoniously. T
hankfully, whenever problems arise between nations, in some cases to critical dimensions, conciliatory initiatives are pursued.
It’s regrettable, though, that some of these are protracted, but hope is never lost that solutions would ultimately be found.
Beyond bilateral, regional and inter-nation initiatives for cohesion amongst nations, the Covid-19 pandemic is so widely cross-cutting that it is a world-wide crisis.
The crisis precipitated by the corona virus, is unlike diseases like malaria and tuberculosis which, serious though they are, are not as deadly and their spread is comparatively limited.
Corona is a gigantic monster whose spread is global, torturing poor and rich countries alike, whereby, therefore, being very rich or extremely poor are incidental rather than primary.
Granted, the government of every country is enjoined to play the frontline role of confronting the health monster. But given Covid-19’s worldwide international dimension, confronting it primarily embraces all countries.
Some approaches or safeguards may not necessarily be similar, but, overall, we are ultimately all part of universal family that is anxious to see an end to the common disaster.
Any initiative that is geared to that end is thus welcome. Onto which we feel fits the call that Pope Francis made on May 3, for people of all faiths to pray to the Almighty God, today, to end Covid-19. It is a timely, significant call more than worth heeding.
