Governors of the 36 States of the federation on Wednesday agreed to the implementation of an inter-State lockdown in the country over the next two weeks. This they believe will mitigate the spread of the pandemic COVID-19 virus from State to State.
Kayode Fayemi, Tambuwal and Akeredolu
The governors, operating under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), reached the agreement after receiving briefing from the Governors of Lagos, Bauchi, Oyo and Ogun States who shared their experiences and lessons from the fight against COVID-19.
Kayode Fayemi, NGF chairman and governor of Ekiti state, said the action became necessary because of the increasing evidence of community transmission of coronavirus.
The communiqué reads in part, “Following an update from the NGF Secretariat on the number of COVID-19 cases in the country, members expressed serious concern over the rising spread of the virus among health workers.”
The governors, therefore, resolved to work with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to ensure that health workers are adequately provided with personal protective equipment (PPE) and are constantly trained on the use of protective gears.
The virtual meeting agreed that the step was necessary to strengthen coordinated implementation of ‘public health recommendations across states’. As part of this measure, the governors decided to set up COVID-19 Committees at the regional level, which will headed by their State Commissioners of Health.
The regional committees will interface with the State Task Force Committees on COVID-19 in each state.
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari imposed lockdown in only the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Lagos and Ogun States to halt the spread of the novel pandemic coronavirus.
Some of the States have taken similar measures to fight the deadly virus but there is no nationwide lockdown from the federal government.
Health experts had earlier said the country may be heading towards the need for nationwide lockdown to stop the virus.
