COVID-19: Partial lockdown of Nigeria
The world has been hit with a pandemic called Coronavirus (COVID-19). The virus is transmitted through fluid droplets from a carrier to another person. Before now, the virus had hit China, Italy, England, the United States, among so many other countries. Due to the mode of transmission of the virus, certain governments had to take both preventive and cautionary measures to curtail the spread.
The Province of Wuhan in China has been on lockdown since the discovery of the virus, so also is Italy which has been worse hit. Nigeria has closed all its international borders. As the spread of the virus continues to increase within the borders, the Lagos State governor has ordered a partial lockdown, directing that only traders of essential commodities are allowed to open shops.
The Governor of Kaduna State has imposed a 24-hour curfew, while Rivers, Cross River, Kano and Delta states have closed all entry points into their states all in the bid to curtail the spread of the virus.
Some lawyers have come out to question the legality or illegality of the acts of government on COVID-19; whether such actions infringe on the rights of the citizens or not. But the truth of the matter is that government has the power in extraordinary situations to make decisions based on necessity for the good of its citizens, like the Quarantine Act which enables the president or a governor to make certain decisions for the sake of public health.
Like someone rightly said, “No matter how noble the intentions of the governors are, and how effective in curbing the spread of the virus the lockdown might have brought, all these will fail and amount to exercise in futility if all states do not shut down their borders or the Federal Government does not prohibit interstate movement of persons and goods for the duration nationwide.”
The gestation period of COVID-19 is 14 days, meaning that, by 14 days, the virus begins to manifest signs and symptoms on the carrier. Some citizens at the moments may be carriers of the virus without even showing any symptom. And if that carrier is not curtailed, imagine how many people would be infected.
Therefore, the Federal Government ought to lockdown the country for 20 days; let every Nigerian go on self-isolation. To alleviate the hardship this stay-at-home may cause, the government can equally disburse an amount of money to every Nigerian through their Bank Verification Number (BVN) to get by with their families while the lockdown lasts.
Nigerians must understand that without good health there will be no money or food.
Finally, it will cost us less to imbibe the lockdown now that the virus is at a manageable level than to start initiating a lockdown when citizens with the virus cannot be traced.
Our love and prayers go out to all infected persons at the moment, and the rest of us should please practice social distancing, avoid handshakes, wash your hands at every opportunity, clean surfaces exposed to public contact, cover mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing and save a life by staying at home.
#Letsbesafe