From Lockdown to Liberty: 5 Years Since Nigeria Reclaimed Her Breath From COVID-19

By Dayo Emmanuel

How time flies! On this day five years ago — 1 July 2020, Nigeria broke free as the Federal Government lifted the COVID-19 lockdown after three long months of fear, silence, and struggle.

As Ms. Iyabo Aboaba, Curator of the historic Freedom Park, Lagos once said on national TV that, “An average Nigerian became a herbalist since the lockdown.” This is nothing but the truth as those leaves, roots and herbs previously despised suddenly became rulers of the market.

With hospitals overwhelmed and panic in the air, we turned to herbs, ginger, garlic — anything to stay alive despite warming from those who held the rules. The fear of death truly became the beginning of wisdom beyond the set rules of the experts.

We remember those we lost — not just to the virus, but to distance, delay, and despair. People who couldn’t travel, couldn’t access care, couldn’t be reached in time, and those who couldn’t earn their usual daily bread.

Yet, against the odds, we made it. The apocalypse predicted didn’t come and today, COVID-19 is just another page in our history books — like pandemics past, its venom met its antidote and today is archived like past ailments now controlled.

1 July reminds us of resilience, healing, and the beautiful return to communal living that defines us as Africans. Here’s to life, to freedom, and to the future we continue to build.

#FromLockdownToLiberty #COVIDAnniversary #NigerianResilience #HealthAwakening #WeSurvived #ThrowbackTuesday #FreedomDay