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Abstract
Nigeria experienced its first index case on 27th February 2020, when an Italian was diagnosed as having contracted Coronavirus. With the rise of Covid cases, social media was agog with myths, fables, information (both true and false), and fake drugs that could be used to cure Coronavirus. This research examines three indigenous-oriented comic musical skits that were aimed at allayed the fear of contracting Covid-19. The theory applied to this study is psychoanalytic. It is argued that comic musical skits were forceful tools used to alleviate the fear of contracting Covid-19.
Keywords: Covid-19 in Nigeria, Hausa Comedians, Psychoanalysis, Comic Musical Skits, Fear.
Introduction
As of the time of writing this paper, 20,273,569 people had contracted the virus, with 739,490 deaths and 13,201,059 recovered. The United States of America is recorded to have the highest number of cases at over 5,251,446 million people with over 166,192 deaths. Other countries with high numbers of infected people are Brazil, India, Russia, Peru, Chile, Spain, Mexico, with others following close behind. In Africa, there were by the time of writing over 870,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus across the continent, with a number of African countries enforcing containment measures to curb the spread of the pandemic.
According to John Hopkins University and Africa Center for Disease Control on Covid-19, the number of recoveries is high with 295,242 patients fully recovered and 13,246 deaths. Nigeria has recorded 46,367 cases of Covid-19 with quite a good number of patients recovering from the disease.2 These recoveries have, however, not stopped the Nigerian Centre of Disease Control (NCDC) from insisting on the wearing of mask in public; embarking on constant broadcasts of the importance of washing hands; not touching the face; maintaining social distancing; informing the public on the need for people over 50 to avoid going out into public places, as well as people with preexisting medical conditions such as diabetes and the need for people to report suspected cases to the appropriate bodies.
However, the fear of contracting Covid-19 has elicited the making of countless online videos and audio clips that either debunk the existence and spread of the disease or explain the serious implications of falling under its scourge. Social media with platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, YouTube...