COVID-19: Group berates Buhari, says cash, food going mostly to Nigeria’s north

The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has lambasted the Federal Government of Nigeria led by President Muhammadu Buhari over its lopsided nature of sharing COVID-19 palliatives to Nigerians.

The group in a statement issued by Coordinator, Media and Publications, Adegboyega Otunuga, on Thursday, berated government for allegedly distributing most of its palliatives to the North and also cautioned the federal and the state governments over incessant and arbitrary extension of lockdown in some states and the entire federation.

CACOL noted that the social and survival implications due to the lockdown in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja were already too weighty and taking their toll on ordinary Nigerians.

The body lamented that “Whereas, other states of the federation, especially in the northern part, received significant financial assistance and feeding materials like rice, beans, flour, money, etc., people in Lagos and many other states of the federation in the south remarkably, were left in the lurch by governments in most instances.”

“Sadly, the figure of the afflicted and deaths recorded was on upward mobility as well. This made all stakeholders, including medical experts and the World Health Organization (WHO) to issue serious warnings about a looming catastrophe on the horizon in Nigeria and other global theatres of human existence.

“However, the crux of the matter is that from the statistics and on-the-spot reports available, while all efforts and attention were focussed on Lagos, Ogun states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, the rest of the nation largely responded with indifference and untoward superstition as far as warning over COVID-19 was concerned with primary measures like: washing of hands, wearing of face-masks, social distancing, etc., mostly observed in the breach.

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“The resultant effect is that today, the hen seems to be home for roosting with many states recording high velocity of both mortal and medical casualties as being seen in Kano, Bauchi, Oyo, Edo and other states. Though the COVID-19 situation could be likened to a war situation to humans, it is dubious to give it a metaphor of death sentence by insisting that those who request for a minimum means of survival to defy the ‘Hunger virus/pang’ are inconsiderate or insensitive.

“This is because many have devised effective herbal mode of deflecting contracting the virus while a lot others would even prefer confronting the scourge rather than being reduced to sub-humans who must die through starvation that seems to be the only available option being peddled.

“Since some of the index states are already contemplating compulsory wearing of face masks, etc., once the last two weeks imposed expire anytime next week, and considering the economic losses these strategic states have recorded and still recording, we caution against any blanket extension without practical and verifiable provisions of foods and other survival modes,” it said.

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