Coronavirus
The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, Proffesor Itse Sagay has reacted to the lockdown put in place as one of the measures to stop the further spread of Coronavirus in Nigeria.
Sagay says he believes the lockdown should be relaxed now as he advised that the use of face masks and enforcement of social distancing should be intensified in public places as a better alternative to containing the spread of the virus.
“The situation in the country is a bit tensed and with a lot of people who usually earn their living from day-to-day increasing and with this tension of one million boys threatening the populace because of this lockdown.
“We have had almost one month of lockdown. I believe the next stage now would be to open up space and insist that everybody who wants to go out should have to wear a face mask; that will be sufficient protection.
“If they can do that, there is no reason people should not go out.
“Also, we should observe social distancing when we are in public, not cling to each other, queuing and giving a distance between each person in banks, shops, supermarkets and so on, with those precautions.”
He also condemned reports of corruption that have characterised the distribution of palliatives across the country.
“Already, we have those who are registered on the social register for the Social Investment Programme. There should be no problem in supplying those people because of their address, telephone numbers; everything about them is available to the government.
“I have heard that some local government officials are asking for party cards, that is illegal and condemnable because hunger and party is not limited to one party and the other, it is supposed to be for everybody.
“It’s for the government now to have a group of people monitoring the way these things are being distributed to make sure that the good intentions of the government are not distorted by people who have their private motives.
Mainly to ensure that those who can take care of themselves do not greedily begin to grab these items that are meant for poor people.”
Meanwhile, Nigerian governors have unanimously agreed to impose a national lockdown over the next two weeks given the Coronavirus pandemic.
Operating under the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), the governors decided following a briefing from the Governors of Lagos, Bauchi, Oyo and Ogun States.
During the briefing, the governors shared their experiences and lessons from the fight against COVID-19.