Coronavirus: Edo govt shuts down school for flouting closure order, as Obaseki advocates sustainable research funding to combat infectious diseases

The Edo State Government has shut down and withdrawn the operating license of the Salvation International School, for flouting the directive of the government on the closure of all schools in the state, as part of measures to halt the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

Special Adviser to the Governor, Programme Management Office and Strategic Planning Unit, Dr. Uyi Oduwa-Malaka and the Commissioner for Education, Hon. Jimoh Ijegbai, led a team to lockup the premises of the school, located along Airport Road, in Benin City.

Oduwa-Malaka said the team responded to a distress call by concerned citizens in the area.

According to her, against the directive of the state government, management of Salvation International School, allowed students to continue attending lectures in mufti to conceal their identify.

She added, “The management of the school has been arrested, while the school has been sealed off for flouting the directive of the Edo State Government for all institutions of learning to be shut down from 23rd March 2020.”

Commissioner for Education, Hon. Ijegbai, warned that the government will not tolerate flouting of its directives, adding, “We hope the case of Salvation International School will be an eye-opener and serve as a deterrent to other erring schools in any part of the state.”

Meanwhile, the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has called for adequate and sustainable funding of research and development (R&D) by governments and high-net-worth individuals to combat the spread of infectious diseases.

The governor said this in commemoration of World Tuberculosis Day, marked every March 24, by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other organs of the United Nations to raise awareness of the disease.

He said, “As we mark the World Tuberculosis Day, it is important for governments and high-net-worth individuals to provide funding for research that will lead to workable solutions on prevention and cure to infectious diseases. The need to support adequate and sustainable research is more important as the world battles to halt the spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease.”

Obaseki said the Edo Health Improvement Programme (Edo-HIP) was designed with well-equipped primary healthcare system to help in the fight against infectious diseases, especially with the intensification of immunisation efforts in the state.