The Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) has said that the continued lock down being ordered by Governments in Nigeria are not and would not in themselves provide solutions to the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
The National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Falalu Bello stated this on Tuesday while reacting to the extension of the lockdown in a Press Statement issued to journalists in Bauchi observed that, even the Western world where Nigeria copied the lockdown strategy from, with all their sophistication and resources, they use it along with other strategies to achieve results.
“The continuous increase in the Covid-19 infections since lockdowns were ordered by some governments shows that lockdowns have not prevented community infections. This should inform our policy makers that lockdowns with attendant economic costs, are not working and need serious re-examination”, the PRP Chairman said.
Bello who argued that social distancing which lockdowns bring in the Western societies as well as elite settlements like Ikoyi Lagos, Anguwan Rimi Kaduna, Asokoro Abuja will not work in towns and cities where over 90 percent of Nigerian population live.
“In such settings where tens of families stay in “face me I face you” rooms, with one or two toilets and at times no running water, that is our reality which informed our stand in earlier press engagements”, he added.
The chairman decried that despite pointing out by his Party and some informed commentators recently on the futility of lockdowns as a solution to Covid-19 pandemic, governments and policy makers are still insisting on that policy with greater draconian enforcement rules as we saw recently.
The party chairman while opining that, instead of imposing lockdown, testing should be made available to all people.
Alhaji Hello who noted that, Nigeria with about 200 million people with only 8 Testing Centres lamented that not all of them are functional, saying, “this explains why not more than 10,000 people are reported to have been tested despite the lockdowns across the nation”.
The party which said lack of testing facilities in the nation must be addressed if any meaningful achievement is to be recorded in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic, expressed regret that Nigeria has failed to provide at least a testing centre per Senatorial District when all it takes to set up a Molecular Ward with all equipment is N35 million only which each of the 774 Local Governments can actually afford.
The press statement urged the Federal Government to in the next 45 days, build a Molecular Ward in all the 97 Senatorial Districts of Nigeria to be scaled up to 774 in all the Local Governments in the next 180 days, all at the expense of the Local Governments so as to have uniformity of standards and enjoy economy of scale.
The party which seeks Fair Distribution of Palliatives as part of measures to contain the spread of the virus said many Nigerians, including the PRP have informed President Muhammadu Buhari of the failure of the Ministry of Humanitarian Services and Disaster Management to fairly distribute the N20,000.00 to 2.6 million Nigerians the Ministry has claimed to have done.
According to Alhaji Bello, PRP has called on the President to order the probe of the Ministry to ascertain the claim that such has happened, who benefited, and, ascertain the capacity of the Ministry to discharge its mandate.
This is to ensure that future distribution is timely and equitably done but the call has been ignored which explains why the impact of the 70,000 tons of grains and other palliatives ordered to be distributed, has not been felt in the nation. Mr President, the need for the called probe is still there and we repeat same today.
“As the extension of lockdowns have already started, the PRP would want to remind all those ordering the extensions of their responsibilities of feeding all those they have ordered to be locked up particularly those that don’t have the means of sustenance”, Bello said.
