COVID-19: The rich, workers should help government to feed the poor —Bafarawa

Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, a two-term former governor of Sokoto State, was a former presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In this interview, he spoke on how the measures put in place by the Federal Government to curtail the spread of COVID-19 can achieve the desired result, among other issues. OLAKUNLE MARUF brings the excerpts.

Most state governments have been enforcing lockdown orders to curtail the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a former administrator who has served as a two-term governor, what is your take?

Before the coronavirus was recorded in Nigeria, we already had a share of many societal problems, ranging from insecurity, poverty and corruption, among other challenges tormenting our daily activities. Now that the COVID-19 virus has entered the country and it is affecting a lot of activities in the bid to curtail the spread, I see this situation as a wake-up call to all Nigerians because this has caused a lot of fears among the people as many don’t know the way out for now.

As an experienced administrator, like you said, in my own personal opinion, I will suggest that both the rich and civil servants come out and assist the government at all levels. What I mean is that they should be ready to part with some token from their wealth and salary, respectively to help those that are forced to stay at home at this critical period. We all know it is not right to force on the people a stay-at-home mission without providing food for them which I believe government alone cannot provide their needs. The rich in the society should join hands in this regard. I also suggest that the civil servants on monthly salary can also help the nation in this critical time.

Let us take for example, in Sokoto State, we have about four million people as our population but just a small portion of about 80,000 workers were placed on monthly payment, collecting from the Federal Government allocation as salary, while the majority of citizens and residents have no share of the allocation. From the little allocation to the states, the moment the salaries of the civil servants are removed, it will remain little or nothing for the welfare of the people. I believe if each state government can remove at least N1 billion from their allocation after deducting a portion from civil servants’ purse to complement and share it among the people of the state, especially the poor, things will be easier. But now, only 40,000 or thereabouts collect government palliative with over N2 billion expended, while about four million people have nothing to eat because they are not on any government payroll. I only use Sokoto State where I live as an example. I want to tell you that most states in the North are the same as Sokoto.

So, if the rich are donating, workers should also take initiative and donate something for the well-being of the poor during this lockdown. It will be a nice idea if both the rich and workers join hands, in addition to what the Federal Government will be providing so as to help the people that are forced to stay at home. There is no way you force a person to stay at home without providing anything that would be sufficient for them.

 

How do you think this is going to help with the support of the Federal Government?

It is going to help a lot. If they are going to use right approach, as it was provided by the committee headed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, they should send the palliative materials to the states, local governments and the traditional heads as well as other proper channels to share them. It cannot work by bringing someone from Abuja to come and share the palliative materials.  Anything they intend to share should be shared state-by-state and local government-by-local government. It is high time we called on the Federal Government that whenever it intended to share these items, it should find the appropriate people to share them and in proper ways.

 

In some states in the North, a few Islamic clerics are preaching against the closing of the place of worship while some believe closing them will help in curtailing the spread of the virus. What is your take on this?

You see, so many clerics talk, based on their own knowledge and understanding and that is why some are saying it is right and others are saying it is wrong. My candid advice is that those saying it is right and those saying it is wrong should check and know that the situation has changed. If a cleric or mallam has good knowledge of Arabic but does not have knowledge of medication, we should look at whatever situation the medical doctor would give. Assuming that such mallam or cleric falls sick, he will go to the doctor to prescribe drugs for him. Why would the doctor tell us a way out now and the mallam or cleric will now say we should not follow the instruction of the doctor? Since I am neither a doctor nor a mallam or cleric, my own opinion is that if a doctor prescribes drug for a cleric to take and tells the same cleric a way out, why will the cleric refuse to follow it?

 

Are you satisfied with the measures taken by the government, both at the state and federal levels, against the spread of COVID-19?

If I may rate their steps, I will say its below expectations. As long as many people still do not believe in the existence of the virus; as long as they don’t believe in the government and the government itself does not accept advice, there will always be a problem. My call here is that in a situation where you can provide food for the poor, do it. That is when the poor will believe and understand you. If the government can give palliatives in form of food and other things that will make the poor to stay at home, they will be happy to stay at home. I call on the rich and the well-to-do in the society and the civil servants to help with a certain percentage of their salaries so as to help the poor and the vulnerable in the society. It is important for them to get what they are going to eat and feed their families.

Take for instance, if workers collect salary from whom they work for and the person they work for does not have what to eat, so who do they work for? We should all accept the situation we are in now; we should be ready to sacrifice with anything we can to help the poor in the society so as to make them obey the rule of lockdown. So, in this situation, we urge the government, the rich in the society and workers to join hand together so as to help the poor.

 

What do you mean when said it is not all Nigerians that understand the situation in which the government is in now?

Almost everyone in Nigeria knows that there is no other thing that the country relies upon for survival apart from oil which price has continued to fall in the international market on a daily basis. Another source of money for the Federal Government is the Customs dues and taxes which are all at the ground level now.

 

What do you think the government can do to live up to the expectations of the people?

Presently, it is time for all of us to assist the government because, with this situation, what the government will generate is nothing compared to what it was generating in the past when we hadn’t experienced this crisis. I will advise the people not to wait for government for everything, unlike before. If care is not taken, it may get to a stage that government will not be able to pay workers’ salary.

Let us take for example, if the government and the people fail to take appropriate action now, it is possible for some people to come out and find food, instead of staying at home. If you say someone should go and find food for himself, where do you expect such a person to find it? That is the problem now. Other problems will arise like armed robbery, among other crimes. That is exactly what we are afraid of. What we want is peace and the people should help the government in these trying times by showing understanding on all the policies of the government. The government should also not hide anything from the people it governs. So , the government, the rich and the poor should join hands to find a way out.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

 

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