Wellness Syndrome in the Era of Coronavirus in Nigeria

Abstract

There is abroad in Western society a phenomenon known as wellness syndrome. Wellness syndrome is like a moral imperative. The moral aspect is based on biomorality which is anchored on the axiom that a person who feels good (and is happy) is a good person; a person who feels bad is a bad person. It is a moral obligation rather than a choice because people should actively pursue healthy living which means that wellness of the body becomes an imperative command for everybody in the society. In Nigeria with the COVID- 19 pandemic people have embraced wellness syndrome by taking care of their bodies through certain herbal/alternative medicine called concoction. Churches also have joined the train in which some pastors claim they can heal or drive COVID- 19 away through prayers. Native “Babalawo” (Herbalist) have also claimed through incantations they can extirpate coronavirus. The people have bought into all these. Before COVID- 19, the middle class embraced wellness syndrome by buying all kinds of wellness tablets manufactured in Europe, the United States of America, and Asia - Mason, Nature, Alliance Global, and a myriad of them for the well-being of their bodies. These wellness tablets advertise in their products that they could fortify people in terms of antidote against all kinds of diseases. Most of the people that buy these tablets are middle-class people. Some of them form a sort of group where they are taught about all kinds of healthy living so that they can be physically and mentally healthy. They also engage in physical exercises and the groups meet to be educated about what promotes good healthy living whereby they are told about some particular tablets that could help them to be healthy and be fit so that they are not a burden to themselves and the society in general.