Skip to main content

President Buhari On Lockdown Extension

With the two-weeks presidential lockdown order coming to an end and the coronavirus continues to spread to more states in the country, Nigerians are yet to know if the lockdown will be extended or not.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on Saturday issued a statement to the public through its Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu,  which has left many Nigerians wondering if the lockdown on Lagos, Abuja and Ogun states has now become indefinite as the president was not specific but rather said the lockdown will last as long as necessary if recommended by medical experts.
The statement:
I wholeheartedly thank all Nigerians for your patience, resolve and strong determination to defeat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.
We realize that today, there will be sons and daughters unable to visit their parents, and elders that are isolated from young ones. And there will be those who live day-to-day, eating as they earn, who face real and present suffering.
No elected government could ask more of the citizens of the country that elected them than what we today ask of you. But we must ask you – once more – to observe restrictions on movement where they are in place, and follow the instructions of our scientists and medical advisers: stay home, wash your hands, save lives.
The freedoms we ask you to willingly forsake today will only last as long as our scientific advisers declare they are necessary. But they are essential – world over – to halt and defeat the spread of this virus.
For those who suffer most egregiously, the Government has announced multiple measures to assist: 70,000 tonnes of grain is being released from the National Strategic Grain Reserves for distribution to those in most need; distribution of small cash payments are also being made, and will continue to be made by the federal government in the states and local government areas.
We ask you to listen and follow public announcements via the mass media for instructions as to how to receive this government support – and learn of more public assistance in the coming days.
All that the Government is asking you to endure is because nowhere in the world today is there any known way of defeating this pandemic. There is no vaccine. And that means there are choices to be made: between continuing as usual, or accepting the restrictions even when they come with unintended consequences.
But at this darkest hour, it remains our duty to offer you the full and unvarnished truth: This is a global pandemic. 210 countries and territories across the globe are affected. We cannot expect others to come to our assistance. No one is coming to defeat this virus for us.
Instead, the defeat of the virus in our country will be in our hands, alone. We cannot wait for others. We can only depend on ourselves now. And so we must – and we will – end this outbreak ourselves as Nigerians, together
Muhammadu Buhari
President, Federal Republic of Nigeria
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

30 Days Lockdown For Kaduna - Governor

The  Kaduna State  government has extended the quarantine order in the state by 30 days. This was confirmed in a statement released by Governor  Nasir El-Rufai’s  spokesperson, Muyiwa Adekeye. The Kaduna State Governor stated that only Wednesdays will be lockdown-free until the trajectory of Coronavirus infections becomes clearer. Residents of the state have been directed to wear facemasks and observe social distancing everywhere they go. While public gatherings have been prohibited in the state, the only category of persons exempted are workers in essential services such as health workers, the fire service, water corporation, electricity distribution, and security personnel.
Post a Comment
Read more

Governors: Conditions For Easing Lockdown

The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari, to scale down the total lockdown imposed in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja. This was contained in a letter dated April 24, 2020 and signed by NGF chairman, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State. The letter was addressed to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation/Chairman, Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha. The Governors have asked Buhari to allow free movement in all the states, but with restrictions on large gatherings. The other things the governors want incorporated into President Buhari’s impending pronouncement on the lockdown are: “Inter-state lockdown, excluding movement of essential supplies- food, beverages, medical and pharmaceutical, petroleum supplies and agricultural products; internal free movement but with restrictions on large gatherings and assemblies; overnight curfews; lockdown of flights; and compulsory use of face masks/coverings in the public.” Fayemi said NGF...
Post a Comment
Read more

President Buhari Approves Scrapping of Agencies to reduce cost of Governance

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the implementation of the Steve Oransaye committee report on the rationalisation of government agencies. The committee set up by the Goodluck Jonathan administration had recommended the scrapping of some federal government agencies to reduce Nigeria's over-bloated recurrent expenditure and ultimately the cost of governance. It recommended a reduction in the number of statutory agencies from 263 to 161, while advocating for the merger of some agencies. Minister of finance, budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmed, has disclosed that the president will be implementing the recommendations. She made the comment when she appeared on a programme on Channels Television. Ahmed said the federal government had started to address the issue of high costs of governance by implementing the report. Her words:  “The president has approved that this administration should implement the recommendations of the Oransaye report. “So, the Orans...
Post a Comment
Read more