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Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, has said only President Muhammadu Buhari can decide if the lockdown imposed to flatten the curve of the pandemic in the country will be the extended or not.
The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed 254 cases with six deaths and 44 discharged in the country.
NCDC statistics indicated 120 cases in Lagos; Abuja – 48, Oyo- Nine; Osun- 20; Ogun – Four; Kaduna-Five; Enugu -Two, Akwa Ibom -Five, Edo- 11 and Bauchi- Six, two each in Ekiti, Rivers and Kwara while Benue and Ondo has one case each.
Responding to a question in Lagos, yesterday, he said the extension or otherwise will come after the president had reviewed the recommendations of the team set up to monitor the various measures to curtail the spread and cushion its effects on the people.
“He (Buhari) and he alone will make the decision as to when the lockdown would either be extended or it will stop at the expiration of 14 days.”
President Buhari had declarea a lockdown in Abuja, Lagos, Ogun and the FCT on the advice of the Minister of Health and the health experts which eventually led to the signing of the Quarantine Declaration 2020.
The SGF, who explained that members of the taskforce were in Lagos to inspect the isolation centres in the state, as part of the responsibilities of the team said: “We’re looking at the objectives that were set when the lockdown or the quarantine declaration was signed by the president and subsequently by several other states.
“Before the end of the week, we will do an evaluation and part of the trip here was to do an evaluation to see how the objectives that were set were being met and at the end of that exercise, we would have the responsibility of reporting to Mr President.”
He reiterated that the restrictions in Lagos and Abuja was because of their high burden status in Nigeria and drastic measures were required as part of the containment strategy to prevent community transmission.
“Let me state at this point that it is not the desire of government to punish its citizen by restricting their movement, but rather out of the abundance of caution, that difficult decision was taken to save lives by preventing spread. Reports have been received on the general level of satisfactory compliance in Lagos with the lockdown order and we have similarly received reports of violations. In this case, I commend the instant action taken by the Lagos State government by prosecuting and convicting notable violators, which shows that nobody should be above the law.
“In recognition of the impact of the lockdown order on the poor, physically challenged, the elderly and the vulnerable, Mr. President approved the release of 70,000 metric tons of grains from the strategic grains reserve. Out of this, about 6,800 will be distributed in Lagos, Ogun and FCT while the rest will be distributed to the 13 frontline states that have recorded cases of the COVID-19 disease.
“I assure you that the distribution of the Lagos State’s share will commence shortly. Mr. President has similarly approved the payment of two months Conditional Cash Transfer to 2.6 million poor and vulnerable already registered in the social safety net programme.
He said COVID-19 pandemic was the most significant public health emergency of international concern, which has so far recorded over one million cases, causing over 50,000 deaths worldwide as well as significant disruption to healthcare system particularly in low and middle-income countries.
“In our case, the economy is also adversely affected.”
He said the national response both at the Federal and sub-national levels is a unified one, carefully guided by the National multi-sectoral COVID-19 pandemic response plan.
“We are also working in collaboration with the WHO for guidance on issues of standardization and global policies.”
Mustapha said the strategy adopted by the PTF working in conjunction with the states included testing, detection, isolation, contact tracing and management.
Mustapha said in appreciation of all the efforts of the Lagos State Government and the burden the state is carrying, Mr. President approved N10 billion as support for fighting the virus.
“The Federal Government in addition to the donation above, allocated to Lagos the lion-share of the PPEs (facemask, face shield and overall gowns) donated to Nigeria by a Chinese philanthropist, Mr. Jack Ma. A few days ago, my office authorised the deployment on loan of 25 Hilux vehicles from INEC to Lagos state to support contact tracing.
“The cumulative efforts for the control of COVID-19 in Nigeria has attracted commendation from the UN Secretary-General, which assures us that we are working on the right path. The United Nations family in Nigeria has similarly launched the COVID-19 One Basket Fund, which was designed to serve as the One COVID-19 Financing and Investment Platform, for mobilisation of resources.
“Haven stated the foregoing, I wish to emphasis that the nation is at war with an unseen but very potent enemy. To successfully prosecute this war, we must own it, we must participate in it, we must create awareness, we must obey rules and regulations, we must stay at home when ordered and we must not conceal any information from the medical and disease control authorities.
“One person who is infected in a community can endanger the entire community regardless of its size and status or position of the people living there. Coronavirus is real and dangerous.
“Let me appeal to Lagosians, indeed, all Nigerians to play our roles in defeating Coronavirus.
To win the war, we must abide by instructions to stay-at-home, maintain social distancing, personal hygiene and report all suspected cases to the designated health authorities.”
