Emile Durkheim argues that deviance is a part of the social system and it is indeed normal and functional.
A certain level of deviance is required in all societies due to the nature of its functionality. For instance, robbery at low level is functional because it has pointed to the fact that one of the social institutions has failed to carry out its duties in terms of protecting the members of the society; prostitution (as it has been tagged by some societies to be deviant) is also functional because it has informed us how difficult it is for members of society to secure a well paid and befitting job.
However, beyond the significant level of deviance required in all societies will be accompanied by threat on social order which in the long run will affect the smooth running of a society.
Continuous incidence of robbery will lead to fear on the part of the members. Thus, other part of the social system will be affected due to the nature of their interdependence as Parsons analysed.
The Corona Virus Disease is a medical deviance that has been functional but due to its excess as a medical deviance, it has threatened social order, and other elements of the social system have been affected.
From religion institution to education institution to economy institution and so on have experienced the effects, and the result is felt by all regardless of our social status and/or level of income.
Muslims around the world were unable to perform the holy pilgrimage except for few people living within the boundaries of Saudi Arabia, churches and mosques were closed down for days, members were unable to pay their tithes and Zakat; elementary schools to tertiary institutions experienced a long term break for the first time in over two decades; most economies of the world have recorded contraction in GDP which has led to recession accompanied by unemployment level which has been on the increase leaving a number of working population jobless; families recorded about double of their expenditure on consumer goods with a contraction in the level income.
These and some other events show how important an institution is to the survival of the social system and how it can affect the entire social system if it is dysfunctional.
The functionality of COVID-19 has described to us that the health institution in our society has not experienced the required level of development that will make it effective for the social system to work well. The burden produced by the dysfunction of a part of the body system, say for instance the eye, will be shared by the entire body system and the entire body system will fail to work well.
The health institution is like the eye that has been under political attack for a while. In modern society, the political institution dictates what is to other institutions; which ranges from law making to budget preparation and allocation of resources.
The budget and resources allocated to, as well as poor management of, the health sector are relatively low compare to the functions the institution performs. With less than 5% of the total budgeting 2019 allocated to health sector in Nigeria, as well as industrial actions of health practitioners in Nigeria, the common Nigeria will find it difficult to have an access to adequate health system.
The less than 5% for health sector covers medical materials, medical research as well as salaries and allowances of medical practitioners. Primary health care centres under the control of underfunded local government over the years have found it difficult to adequately maintain the centres and this has affected common Nigerians living below one dollar a day.
Hence, there is shortcomings in human productive ability and the economy suffers for it as well as those who benefit from economy.
However, we, over the time, have seen all these as normal due to their daily occurrences. There is no nomalcy in underfunding the health sector that will cater for over 200 million Nigerians. The incidence is nothing but the creation of the ruling class to keep the subject class in its position as well as promoting their (ruling class) interest and maintaining there power.
Consciousness can never be anything else than conscious existence, and the existence of men in their actual life processes. We are not conscious of our situation because the institutions that make up a society are under the control of the ruling class, religion inclusive. Religion has preached to us as individual to always accept all that happens to us. Even the death of an individual caused by deadly virus due to poor funding of the health sector has been attributed to destiny as religion will see it.
The functionality of the COVID-19 has also been demonstrated in lackadaisical attitude of the government towards the education institution.
Beyond impacting knowledge and skills required to survive in society to students, modern educational system,with the help of vibrant academician, has been involved in researches on different areas which ranges from medical areas to technology;human behaviour to industrial development; economy development to agricultural development and so on.
With the index record of the COVID-19 in February, 2020, it is the duty of the government to order higher institutions of learning to embark on research on how to create a solution to this global pandemic.
In response to the virus, all institutions of learning were ordered to close down until further notice; poor funding of the sector also forced the university lecturers, who with their knowledge and research can create solution it the problem, to shut down indefinitely.
If the sector has been funded adequately, there will not be any need to call on international organizations to rescue us. Majority of the researches that can help in hasty development carried out by students and lecturers are somewhere in the faculty building or school library waiting for a foreigner to invest in the idea. Prolonged industrial action by academic unions has kept students in a place of perplexity.
The slang ‘education na scam’ is all over the air when education institution has failed to bring the development society requires for its survival.
Human beings have be dehumanized with the advent of COVID-19. People now prefer virtual online session to the traditional physical meeting. This, however, has helped a number of people to acquire skills unknown to them.
The bond we share as humans and social being has been cut short by virtual online session. People now prefer to communicate with their mobile phones rather than the next person sitting with them for help.
A number of youths are also engage in a lot of cyber activities which they were not able to access before the pandemic since their smartphones is all they have and can keep them busy. The social processes have been affected virtually in all aspects.
The functionality of COVID-19 is actually looking at the deficiencies in our existing social and political system. The political institution as the dictator for other institutions has failed to integrate itself well with others thus the end result in our daily life.
The economy has been affected, workers productivity is low, the education calendar is lagging and extra years have been added to students’ year, health practitioners have embarked upon industrial action over and over and patients are dying. The society will be better if the social illness is attended to as fast as possible.
