COVID-19 Lockdown: NGIJ Tells FG Livelihood Is As Important As Lives

By Akinwale Kasali

The  lackadaisical approach of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to the call for the expansion of the Federal Government’s palliative measures has been greeted with disdain by the Nigerian Guild of Investigative Journalists, NGIJ. The Guild tasked the Federal Government on the need to put into consideration the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on a vast majority of poor Nigerians, especially in cities.

The Guild maintained that livelihood was as important as lives, as poverty and hunger can drive people into vices that may terminate their lives.

The Guild’s Vice President, Information and Strategy, in a statement said the Guild frowns at the attitude of the FG towards the sufferings and plight of the masses.

Bolaji stressed that FG’s decision  that Nigerians with over #5,000 in their bank account, and those who buy over #200 recharge cards will not be assisted should be swiftly revisited.

The Guild described measures put in place so far, by the government, towards assuaging the economic effects of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, as sparse and inadequate.

“Before the coronavirus pandemic and the eventual lockdown, Nigerians especially the urban poor struggle to eke a decent living, with multiple statistics indicating abject poverty in the cities.

“Even the average mid-income earners cannot afford anything beyond the very basic, at most, as the increasingly high cost of living, sadly, accords a very low purchasing power to a decent sum.

“Practically speaking, what can #5000 do when averagely the PHCN and water bills, family feeding, children school fees, transportation and accommodation at the very lowest gulp over N100,000 monthly in the city?

“With N5,000 in your bank account in a city like Lagos or Abuja, how can a family of five feed for more than a week, and that excludes all other essential bills”, the statement stated.

The Guild, however, stressed that now that the right of poor Nigerians to fend for themselves had been taken away by the Federal Government due to the lockdown, it therefore, becomes the responsibility of Government to help out with more people and not just a disputed few.

The Guild appealed to governments at all levels to remember to protect the livelihoods of the people and not just lives, as the nation fights hard to curtail the spread of the pandemic.

It expressed disdain that though billions of naira had been donated to Nigeria, from both local and international philanthropists and bodies, towards easing the strain caused by the lockdown and the pandemic as a whole, very little economic support has been offered to the people.

It argued further that the federal and state governments had allegedly made more money from the Coronavirus pandemic donations, than any other country in Africa, yet, Nigerians are lacking the basic amenities that support general wellness.

“You can’t even begin to imagine the plight of Nigerians, who have been observing the lockdown for weeks now, with increased prices of food commodities, inadequate preparations, and very little input from the government.

“Though many Nigerians have cried out on social media, about hunger, increase in food commodities price, electricity, and water challenges, in this time, their cries seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Can you imagine?”

“We call on the Nigeria Government to assist Nigerians financially, nationwide, no matter how small even if they have to cut down on other ostentatious expenditures.”

“Globally, hunger and hunger-related diseases like kwashiorkor and tuberculosis kill about 8.4million people every year and so there is more pandemic when it comes to hunger”, the statement concluded.