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Why There Should Be No Further Lockdown in Nigeria

The coronavirus is not mutating significantly as it travels through the human population, according to scientists who are closely studying the original pathogen’s genetic code. They claim that relative stability suggests the virus is less likely to become more or less dangerous as it spreads, which suggests encouraging news for researchers hoping to create a long-lasting vaccine.

 Researchers are working towards discovering vaccines and treatments for the coronavirus, but until there is a vaccine, lockdowns have been deemed as one of the most important ways of reducing the spread of the virus. This may have proved effective in countries with reliable health and well-structured social welfare systems like the U.S, UK, Italy, etc, which a country like Nigeria obviously does not have.

Let us start this analysis from the first week of the lockdown. The Federal Government announced the lockdown in some states effective from March 31, 2020; all residents of Lagos, Ogun states and the FTC were required to stay at home except those on essential duty or rendering essential services.

Exponential Increase in Crimes and Violence

There were several reported cases of human rights violation by the Nigerian Police Force and the Nigerian Army. In total, the Nigerian Security Forces allegedly killed over 18 people in two weeks while enforcing the lockdown order.

Barely a week after the lockdown enforcement, there were increased cases of domestic/sexual violence. The lockdown has made it difficult for victims or vulnerable women and girls to avoid their abusers or perpetrators of gender-based violence.

Hoodlums are as well, using the lockdown as an avenue to perpetrate criminal activities such as rape and robbery. In the past few weeks, there have been overwhelming complaints by residents of different areas in the country who have lost sleep over robbery attacks in their neighbourhoods.

Federal and State Government’s Failed Promises

This also narrows down to “Hunger obeys no order”. Hunger has built up in a lot of communities with little or no social safety net to guard the poor against the economic consequences of the virus pandemic.

The relief packages announced by the Federal Government to cushion the effects of the lockdown on states have not been sincerely and effectively deployed. Citizens have confirmed that the distributions of items were also politicized. Just recently, some state governments rejected bags of rice and vegetable oil donated by the Federal Government because they have allegedly expired.

In response to this, the Peoples’ Democratic Party, in a statement made by the Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Mr Diran Odeyemi said…

“it is lack of initiative and poor judgment if the best method and option deployed by the Federal Government is to give financial succour only to Nigerians with less N5, 000 in their bank account or citizens who are not able to top their mobile phone with more than N100 whereas they know where poor Nigerians lived when they wanted their votes”. 

“It is irreconcilable if, in the name of saving the lives of Nigerians against the coronavirus pandemic, the same Federal Government is giving Nigerians poisonous rice as a palliative, we wonder how a government that claims to value the lives of its people will openly toy with the idea of feeding them with expired food items”. 

If this is the case, asides bags of rice, other food items in storage are probably also expired or almost meeting their due dates.

Again, about three-quarters of Nigerians make a living in the informal economy; hawkers, taxi drivers, market stall traders, labourers etc, extended lockdowns only make things harder for this class of people. So many average income earners have gone broke from spending money to stock up with no means of recovering what they have spent.

There is no gainsaying that the lockdown has really helped a lot, but further extending it will only deteriorate the conditions of many vulnerable citizens. Farmers need to return to the farms, business owners need to sell out goods (some of which may have expired) that have been locked up for weeks; people need to return to making a living.

In the past few weeks, a lot of individuals have suffered from situations worse than actually contacting the coronavirus; a little back-to-normal order from the government might remedy the many robbery cases, and imminent depression added to already very poor Nigerians.

 

 

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect ROOT TV's editorial stance.

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