By Adesina Soyooye
In a unanimous decision, the 36 Governors of the Federation, on Wednesday, resolved to ask President Muhammadu Buhari to completely lockdown the country for two weeks.
The resolve is bound to depress most Nigerians who already are tired of the lockdown, with hunger, looming, and already ravaging many. The palliatives being given out by the Federal Government and states to the underprivileged have had little or no effect at all.
The Governors made the decision after a tele-conference they held to assess the state of the spread of Coronavirus in the country.
They were worried at the alarming rate with which the Virus is spreading across the country, and the number of people so far infected within a short period since the index case. They have agreed to a two-week lockdown of the country, state to state, with all the borders closed.
The Governors held the meeting under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF.
They took the decision after they had briefings from the Governors of Lagos, Bauchi, Oyo and Ogun states who shared their experiences in managing COVID-19. They believe that a complete lockdown of the country would stem the spread of the disease in the country.
A communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, and signed by the NGF Chairman, Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, said only people on essential services would be allowed to move around. They expressed worries at the rate with which health personnel are being infected by COVID-19. They also resolved to cooperate with the National Centre for Disease Control, NCDC to see to the end of the disease.
President Buhari had locked down the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Lagos and Ogun states, initially for two weeks, and extended it by another two weeks.
Almost all the Governors had either locked down their states, or partially done so.
They, also, closed interstate borders.
Yet, the spread of the deadly Virus has not abated. It, instead, gets worse by the day.
The Virus has spread to, at least, 25 States of the Federation, with Lagos remaining the epicentre. But other states, including Osun, Oyo, Bauchi and, of course, the FCT are in hot pursuit. There are fears over Kano which has recorded dozens of yet to be explained deaths.
It is not yet known what Buhari’s reaction will be, but strong feelings are that he is likely to endorse the recommendations by the NGF. It is not known how many Nigerians, already expectant that the lockdown would be lifted, and borders opened, would receive the news of this new twist.
The lockdown has already caused a spike in the rate of crimes in states, especially, Lagos.
872 Nigerians, and counting, have already tested positive for the disease. 28 deaths have been recorded.
