COVID-19 lockdown relaxation: Abuja residents dare FCT administration

FOLLOWING the relaxation of lockdown in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Lagos and Ogun states by President Muhammadu Buhari, some business owners, especially within the Central Business District (CBD), Abuja on Saturday vowed to open their various shops and offices tomorrow (Monday), as a way of cushioning the hardship of coronavirus after five weeks of lockdown.

This is also as residents of Lagos State look forward to the Monday resumption of economic activities amidst warning by the state government that schools must not reopen yet.

Some of the residents of the FCT that spoke to Sunday Tribune complained that majority of them did not get palliatives being shared by the government, hence the need to open their shops to look for their daily bread.

An electronics repairer in Abuja, Saliu Abubakar, said he had not been going to work since the commencement of total lockdown in the territory.

According to him, “I have a small space that I normally manage in town, but for the past four weeks now, I have been at home and didn’t see the palliatives government shared.”

Another resident, Kunle Oladejo, said: “I heard Mr. President saying some people would still remain at home after five months. I am going to Federal Secretariat tomorrow to do my normal business there. I never got any palliative, either financially or otherwise.”

Also, Blessing Agatha, a fashion designer, said she had lost a huge amount of money and customers to the lockdown.

A businesswoman, Edith Ndoma, also said she would open for normal business and close before the stipulated curfew time.

An auto mechanic who simply identified himself as Akinwande, said he would resume his normal duty like civil servants and close as directed by government.

A vulcanizer, who simply identified himself as Paul, told Sunday Tribune that he had been left to do nothing for almost two months, adding that he could not wait for tomorrow to come.

Also a banker who pleaded not to be named said easing the lockdown meant economic activities would take off again in the midst of the COVID-19.

For Ismail Adedoyin who also told Sunday Tribune that easing the lockdown was a welcome development, the exercise had not stopped the spread of the virus, had grounded economic activities with many now struggling to fulfill financial obligations.

 

Government talks tough

But reacting through a statement, the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, said his administration would enforce the guidelines regulating easing of the lockdown in the territory rigorously, as part of measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Abuja.

He insisted that security agencies had been mandated to arrest and prosecute anyone found contravening the guidelines through mobile courts.

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Anthony Ogunleye, a copy of which was made available to journalists in Abuja, the minister reminded the residents that COVID-19 is a very serious ailment that could be fatal and there was the need for residents to follow all laid-down health protocols.

Malam Bello insisted that the FCTA would vigorously enforce the curfew from 8:00 pm to 6:00 am and in order to prevent possible patients of COVID-19 from coming into the territory, would also enforce the ban on interstate travel very strictly.

According to him, “all workers who reside outside the FCT have been directed to remain in their respective states of residence until the ban on interstate travel is lifted.

 

No schooling yet in Lagos

In the same vein, the Lagos State government says all schools in the state, from primary to tertiary, would remain closed until it says otherwise.

Commissioner for Education, Mrs Folasade Adefisayo, stated this on Saturday as a reaction to refute a social media report claiming that government had asked all schools, especially primary and secondary, to reopen from Monday for third term activities of the 2019/2020 academic year.

She said there was no iota of truth in the report.

According to her, government is yet to conclude with new guidelines for implementation as regards schools resumption in the state, let alone releasing any.

“The guidelines for post-COVID-19 lockdown for schools are already under review by the ministry and this will be made public when ready,” she stressed.

Mrs Adefisayo, however, reaffirmed that the state government did not impose any ban on private schools organising digital lessons for their students, as government-owned schools’ are still ongoing.

She added that such arrangement should not be interpreted as third term resumption.

 

Lagos mass transit trains won’t resume yet —NRC

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) says the Mass Transit Train Services (MTTS) in Lagos will not resume yet in spite of the gradual easing of COVID-19 lockdown in the state.

The state Railway District Manager, Mr Jerry Oche, who made this disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos, said the corporation would concentrate on Apapa freight shuttles alone.

Oche noted that it would be difficult to ensure social distancing both at the railway stations and on board trains.

According to him, though the corporation would resume work, train services would be limited to freight shuttle from Apapa to Iddo, Apapa to Ebutte-Metta and others.

The NRC boss said: “As directed by the Federal Government, we will resume on May 4 like every other agency; but our emphasis for now is going to be on Apapa freight shuttle.

“Don’t forget that if we have to do the MTT, there are lots of measures to be put in place. The social distancing is there, the enforcement is there and we know how porous our stations are. It is going to be very difficult and we don’t want to go in that line now.

“So, what we intend to do is to deploy our manpower, allowed by the government to resume work, for the freight shuttle services.”

He added that the corporation would not also want to endanger the lives of its staff, especially checkers on the train.

“It is not everybody that is resuming; it is just for those on level 14 and above. We don’t want to risk anybody’s life. For freight shuttle, we don’t need checkers; we just need drivers. We can manage that one.

“The freight shuttle is a shorter distance; it is just Apapa to EBJ and Iddo as the case may be. All our emphasis is going to be on freight shuttles,” he said.

Oche added that the port had been congested and the NRC would want to help in decongesting it.

 

Ogun decontaminates state secretariat ahead of workers’ resumption

In Ogun, the state government, on Saturday, decontaminated the state secretariat, in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, ahead of the announced partial resumption of workers’ on Monday.

This exercise was carried out by the State Ministry of Environment, to make the working environment safe for the civil servants directed to resume for duties from Monday.

It will be recalled that the state governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, had ordered workers to work from their respective homes, as part of measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease in the state.

The decontamination exercise was extended to the State House of Assembly Complex as well.

Abiodu had in his statewide broadcast to commemorate Workers’ Day, on Friday, announced that government businesses would be opened for just 30 per cent of the workers in various ministries, departments and agencies.

 

 

 

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