Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara has suggested the setting up of a volunteer team drawn from the organised labour and civil society to monitor inter-state boundaries with other security agencies to stop the influx of people into the state.E
The governor made the suggestion on Monday night during a virtual meeting he had with leaders of CSOs in Ilorin.
A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Rafiu Ajakaye on Tuesday, quoted the governor as saying that people are sneaking into the state between 10 p.m and 5 a.m.
“It has been established that some people sneak into the state between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
“This poses a grave danger to us when you consider the fact that virtually all our COVID-19 cases were imported.
“We would like to have volunteers from labour and the civil society organisations who, working with the security agencies, would man our borders between those hours,” AbdulRazaq said.
He said the government would offer incentives and security cover to volunteers who would form a boundary surveillance team.
The team, according to the governor, will man the various entry posts of the state from its western and northern flanks; especially Eiyenkorin, Oko Olowo and Jebba where influx of people has been reported in the past few days.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was a follow up to the first engagement AbdulRazaq had with some civil society leaders in April.
The governor, at the April meeting commended the CSOs for their credible roles in the distribution of government palliatives after he invited them to join the initiative.
AbdulRazaq said the invitation was premised on the need to ensure that the palliatives facilitated with public funds got to the targeted people in the state, irrespective of their affiliations.
“We are here to serve the people. We have nothing to hide and that is why we called you to observe and own the process.
“We may have our doubts and we may disagree on modalities of how to get things done for our people, but we must never at any time turn our back against one another,” he told the CSO leaders.
AbdulRazaq said he had called the meeting to brief them on the status of Kwara in fighting the deadly virus.
“We all need to do more to contain the spread of the virus and prevent community transmission,” he added.
He said the state would soon have a testing centre as the NCDC team would be in Kwara in the coming days to discuss the issue.
The governor added that there was no use buying rapid test kits whose results would not be recognised.
Speaking on behalf of leaders of the other CSOs, Malam Lawal Olohungbebe of the Centre for Community Development, KWASU, commended the governor for taking engagement with the civil society so serious in a way never seen before.
Olohungbebe welcomed the challenge amidst calls on the administration to strengthen enforcement of various regulations put in place to tackle the pandemic.
He noted that some of the issues raised in their position paper recently sent to the governor have been addressed.
Olohungbebe listed the issues to include the need to relax lockdown internally, ensure regular payment of civil servants’ salary and compulsory quarantine of anyone who sneaked into the state.
He however urged the government to look into other areas of concern such as a review of the social investment programme because of paucity of funds.
“We thank you for this engagement. The civil society should not be seen as rival to the government. We should be partners.
“We just want the best for our state. There is no doubting your good intentions for our state, but we also urge you to consider the passage of the FOI Bill.
“Other issues we want the government to look at are farmers’ market, off taker policy and agriculture master plan,” he said.
Other leaders of CSO at the meeting were Dr Lateef Alagbonsi of the Elite Network for Sustainable Development (ENETSUD) and Hajia Bilqees Oladimeji of the COVID-19 National CSO Emergency Intervention Group (CEIG).
The rest were Idris Buko Musa of the Coalition of Kwara North Groups (CKNG); AbdulRahman Ayuba of the Centre for Community Empowerment and Poverty Eradication (CCEPE) and Anthonia Oshiniwe of the Theios Caregivers Initiative.
Also at the meeting were AbdulRasheed Sa’adudeen of the Volunteers of Ilorin Community and the Emirate (VOICE); as wel as Saliu Saliu of the Haashim Initiative for Community Advancement (HICA). (NAN)