In developed societies, the government make adequate provision for the people so as to keep them indoors but the Nigerian case is not so. The government is not making provision for the people but the citizens are being compelled to stay indoors without food. Our government inability to provide for the people, the lockdown in many states has remained ineffective. People are seen on the streets of cities everyday doing their normal business, not caring whether there is a lockdown or not.
I am sure the people are not actually bothered about their work at the moment but about what to eat to keep the stomach at bay. Like we all know the trouble in the stomach is the biggest problem. That problem is bigger than the problem of the coronavirus government trying to prevent in Nigeria. If People have food to eat i am sure peoples would have obey the lockdown as there were food for them to eat.
As the second segment of the two weeks lockdown of some states and the FCT expires it is not evident what other measures the FGN and some of those states will adopt to control and stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Total lockdown is an effective measure that can ensure social distancing but it is also not sustainable in the country like Nigeria which over 80% of the citizens is made up of daily wage earners (LEAVING Hand To Mouth).making it possible for the general public to secure their means of livelihood.
There is need for the government to do the needful to ensure our heartless foodstuffs dealers stop making unbeatable prices increases in food prices. We witness how coronavirus pandemic has had huge inflationary impact on food prices. In a country where minimum monthly wage is N30,000, a 50kg of rice sold at about N26,000 currently,
50kg of sugar sold at N28,000 and a Jarry can of vegetable oil sold at N20,000. A standard Bag of pure water before Covid 19 lockdown were dolf at N260 now N300. Face masks sold N50 before now N300 and Hands sanitizer N500 now N3000.
if Federal government and others state governments want for the extension of another round of lockdown there is need for government to finds ways to give cash handout to the poor through more efficient channel. It seem both our elected leaders and appointees they do not feel the pains of the ordinary citizens who do not have food to eat as they have in abundance they are in their various government houses and catered with taxpayers money. Due to this previlages they don’t have human sympathy to citizens. Its seem Nigerian government from the federal to the state level have no sympathy for citizens because they are in their various government houses.
With continues lockdown as If care not taken from what we have seeing where peoples starts attacking truck and mini one with foodstuffs in Kano, Abuja and other places. It is undeniable the growth in number of cases in the country is actually scary as the number has grown to 1,182 confirmed on Sunday evening by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
For the sake of reality the continuous lockdown country will only continuing aggravating the citizens suffering because there is no any real palliative provision for the people to cushion the effect of continuous lockdown. Millions of peoples are hungry across the country.
Peoples are no longer have access to their sources of livelihood. Even at rural area those who are farmers no longer go to farms, even as petty traders have their shops locked for the past two to three to four weeks. Is Federal government cares about the spike deaths in Kano the state has begun to rise with significant number of deaths from a strange ailment. I am sure if our leaders were in the same shoe with the average Nigerian, some of the policies they are churning out they would not churn them to the public because they cannot bear this.
Abba Dukawa writes from Kano
