Lockdown won’t affect transportation of fertiliser – FG

The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 Thursday said the transportation of fertiliser had been exempted from the two-week lockdown declared in Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Ogun State.

Boss Mustapha, chair of the task force and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), during a briefing in Abuja on Thursday, remarked that general restriction of movement in the two states and the FCT were in order.

The SGF stated that the lockdown was not a deliberate decision to deny people their freedom of movement but government’s plan to protect the welfare and health of the citizenry.

“In order not to disrupt the economy and particularly the supply of power to our homes, government has already exempted the essential staff of companies in the upstream oil and gas sector from the restrictions and exempted further the movement of fertiliser and related items so that we can have our agricultural economy working.

“This is all in order to facilitate availability of gas to fire the turbines that generate power for the supply in our homes and to ensure that our farmers have fertilisers and other necessary components as the farming season is about to begin,” Mr Mustapha said.

Read Also: Bauchi govt relaxes COVID-19 lockdown measures

He stressed the necessity of deploying facilities needed to combat the menace of the coronavirus pandemic in states that have recorded cases and those that have not in case the outbreak advance further.

“We are requesting that the sub-national governments should provide at least a 300-bed facility, either a hotel or other facilities that are available to them with options and graded in different categories so that they provide a place where they can provide basic nursing and other required procedures before patients are moved into the isolation centres, the teaching hospitals or any other health facilities.”

According to him, staff capacity development especially in the management and handling of equipment is paramount to government’s blueprint.

He disclosed that the task force “shall intensify consultations with the governors and other state agencies to achieve the much-needed collaboration.”

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