By Emeka Alex Duru
Major take-away of President Muhammadu Buhari’s nationwide broadcast on Sunday, March 29, was the seal on the lockdown of Abuja and Lagos for an initial period of 14 days commencing on Monday, to curtail the spread of the deadly Coronavirus that has set the world on heat. There were other directives by the President. Ogun state which shares proximity with Lagos, for instance, is affected by the lockdown. This is as far as human and vehicular movements are concerned. Before now, most activities in Lagos, had been on standstill. Though the government had insisted that the state was not on lockdown, major activities had been put on hold.
For example, by Thursday, March 26, there was record of 80 percent compliance by traders operating in Lagos markets on the stay at home order as directed by the governor, Babtunde Sanwo-olu. About17 popular markets in the state were shut to curtail the spread of the virus.
Checks by TheNiche confirmed that some of the popular markets namely, Mile 12, Idumagbo, Balogun, Ladipo, Oshodi , GSM market, Computer Village markets were all deserted incompliance with the government directives.
Elsewhere, activities in the aviation sector and other areas had been suspended by the various authorities in charge. States had also keyed into the arrangements with their individual measures at curtailing and containing the disease. Buhari’s address, was thus, essentially, an endorsement of the steps taken by the states in battling the virus.
He also went ahead to announce strategies by the federal government to complement the efforts by the states. Among these, was an initial intervention of fifteen billion Naira (N15b) to support the national response in the fight to contain and control the spread. The government, he added, had also created a Presidential Task Force (PTF) to develop a workable National Response Strategy that is being reviewed on a daily basis as the requirements change. Personnel have also been recruited and being trained to beef up the hands in the fight.
How far can the nation go?
Analysts are agreed that the various measures by the federal and state governments are salutary, on the face value. It is rather the strategies and sincerity in implementation that matter. Dr. Jane Duru, Executive Director of gender care Initiative, a Lagos-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), is for example, concerned with enforcement of the various measures listed in curtailing the spread of the virus. According to her, aside the efforts by the elite in the cities to keep to the recommendations by the government in guarding against the spread of the disease, not much is being done at the rural areas to carry the masses along. She cited instances of such suburbs as Ijegun Egba, a rural setting in Satellite Town, Maza-Maza in Mile 2 area, Okokomaiko and its environs in Ojo Local Government Area, where the directives on social distancing and basic hygiene are not being observed.
“In these areas, it is still business as usual. Vehicles still ply with full load of passengers as against the directive on 60 percent capacity. Okada riders still operate with two passengers on every trip. Few bus parks have sanitizers for drivers. Even at that, the drivers are not bothered. There is still this impression of, ‘it is not my portion to be infected by the disease’, among the residents as they go about their normal businesses with scant regards to the dangers of the virus”, she lamented.
The same scenario played out in Agege and Alimosho councils of the state. At Agbotikuyo Bus stop on Agege – Iyana Ipaja Road, Dopemu area of the state, some residents who complained of being tired staying at home, converged at newspaper stands, discussing the virus and other issues, at close range. Some others busied themselves with engagements as outdoor games, like Ludo, draught in groups. Incidentally, the social distancing directive was not being observed.
States that have shut their boundaries to incoming and outgoing vehicles, are also not helping matters. Television reports presented a near crisis situation at the Rivers and Bayelsa state boundary on East –West Road, where commuters were prevented by security agents from accessing their destinations on account of the closure of the boundary. That forced the passengers bonding together in groups, thus, widening the chances of the spread of the virus.
Palliatives are also not coming to Nigerians in the period of the lockdown. Temitope Akinfenwa a trader at Odun Ade market, on Orile – Mile 2 road, Lagos, laments that the non-availability of palliatives, is what makes the lockdown biting. “Some of us are not government workers. We kill what we eat. Nobody pays us at the end of the month. It is from what we eke out that we feed our families. Now, the government has shut the markets. There is no palliative or any assistance coming to us. And the children are at home. How do we go about the situation”? she asked. The government is not coming up with a concrete answer to this, yet. At the time Lagos state ordered closure of the major markets, the governor had pledged that some schools would be turned to emergency markets for the sale of food stuffs and other basic items. The measure is yet to take off. In other states where the markets have been shut, there are also no visible efforts at addressing the needs of the people by the time their stocked items run out.
The federal government is also lost on the way to get out of the situation. Part of the President’s speech even indicated confusion in this regard. He had stated, “Although schools are closed, I have instructed the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to work with State Governments in developing a strategy on how to sustain the school feeding program during this period without compromising our social distancing policies”. Many interpret the prescription ad confusing, given that on the orders of the federal government, all the schools from primary to tertiary have been closed. “How does the president intend to gather the pupils and feed them? Is he going to call them back from their houses or does he intend to take the food to them”? asked an angry Jewel Din in her social media, Facebook page.
Thus, in the words of Dr. Duru, “there is need to look beyond the president’s broadcast. What we have at hand is not one that permits populist posturing. It requires genuine action. The virus is real and requires all hands on the deck to curtail its spread.
