After 14 days of relaxation of the lockdown of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Lagos and Ogun states which President Muhammadu Buhari imposed on March 30 to curb the spread of Covid-19, organized labor and the organized private sector (OPS) have indicated their opposition to any attempt to shut down the economy again. Leading members of the sector and the Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC) said a fresh lockdown of the economy would be retrogressive and would have tremendous negative economic and social consequences on the country.
This position was canvassed by the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Assembly (NECA), the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and a Professor of Financial Economics and the Director of the Centre for Economic Policy Analysis and Research, University of Lagos, Prof. Ndubisi Nwokoma, in separate interviews with reporters.
Following the relaxation of the lockdown two weeks ago, the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 had complained about the failure of citizens to adhere to measures laid down to curb the spread of the disease, warning that if the disobedience persisted, the federal government might be forced to reinstitute the shutdown of the country.
The rise in the number of confirmed cases and deaths since the easing of the restrictions caused public health analysts to advocate a return to total restriction to slow down the rampaging virus. Yesterday, Nigeria recorded 338 new cases, bringing to 5,959 the total number of confirmed cases in the country.
Announcing this last night, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said Lagos recorded 177 new cases, Kano 64, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) 21, Rivers 16, Plateau 14, Oyo 11, Katsina nine, Jigawa and Kaduna four each, Abia, Bauchi and Borno three each, Gombe, Akwa Ibom and Delta two each, while Ondo, Kebbi and Sokoto recorded one each. NCDC said: “Nigeria had recorded 5,959 cases of COVID-19. 1,594 persons have been discharged, while 182 persons have died.”
The president is poised to unveil new guidelines for the containment of the pandemic when he addresses the nation today, PTF Chairman, Boss Mustapha, said yesterday while answering questions from journalists after leading his team to a meeting with Buhari in the State House. Mustapha, who described the meeting as a routine exercise during which appraisal of the last guideline unfolded by the Buhari was carried out, recalled that today, being the 14th day since April 27, when the last guideline was issued, the president is expected to unveil a new procedure for the fight against the disease.
According to him, the meeting was meant to present the president with raw materials aimed at assisting him in making the right decision for the way forward. “This is part of a routine exercise. I think this is about the third time that we have had cause to submit an interim report to him on our activities as a task force and also to update him on preparation for the other phases of the engagement. And we have supplied him with all the materials that are required to look at the issues. Tomorrow, we should expect new processes to be put in place. But we have to give him all the material details that will help us in preparing for the future. So, that is why we are here,” Mustapha said.
He also advised Nigerians expecting an immediate end or sudden disappearance of the coronavirus to perish the thought, pointing out that it would be foolhardy to expect the fight against the disease to end in the next two months, bearing in mind that hope of available vaccines for its cure is not yet in sight. According to him, it would not take earlier than 18 to 24 months before such vaccines would be produced, submitting that until such vaccines are available to cure the disease, Covid-19 would remain the albatross of mankind.
Furthermore, SGF added that even if the current cycle of the pandemic subsides, there might yet be its resurgence which he said had been the characteristics of infectious diseases. Against this background, he said the task force had resolved to adopt a new approach in the fight against the disease, disclosing that the fight would henceforth be taken to community levels where there are primary health centres.
He said such primary health centres would serve as the platforms for tracing, tracking, isolating and reporting suspected symptoms of the disease.
Mustapha said: “COVID-19 is not going to go away in the next one or two months. Whoever tells you that is not being realistic. No vaccine is on the horizon. We are talking about 18 months to two years before vaccines would be confirmed for human use as far as COVID-19 is concerned, and unless we get there, what it means is that it will remain.”
