Lockdown measures won’t be longer than necessary – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday assured Nigerians that the lockdown measures would not go on longer than necessary because they would be reviewed from time to time to ease the increasing hardship on the people.

Buhari, in his Sallah message to Muslims on the occasion of Eidel-Fitr, admitted that for the first time in recent years, the COVID19 pandemic had taken a heavy toll on the people’s spiritual, social and economic lives.

The president, however, urged Nigerians to keep their spirits up in spite of the pandemic.

“This year’s fasting period was particularly challenging for Muslims because they had to forgo many important aspects of their daily worship, including the routine congregations for prayer and the recitation and interpretation of the Holy Qur’an as well as traveling for the lesser pilgrimage to Makkah.

“It is not easy to give up many of these important duties and activities, but it became imperative to do so in order to control or limit the spread of this deadly disease.

“Let me use this opportunity to commend the sacrifices of both Muslims and Christians for their cooperation in the enforcement of the social distancing guidelines. I am well aware of the inconveniences these tough measures have brought on the lives of Nigerians, including limiting religious activities and gatherings in large numbers,” he said in a statement issued yesterday by his spokesman, Garba Shehu.

The president said no government would intentionally impose tough and demanding measures on citizens if it had a choice, and appealed to Nigerians whose businesses and means of livelihoods were badly affected by the prolonged lockdown for their understanding and cooperation.

He also appealed to people with means to continue helping their neighbours so that Nigerians would come out of the pandemic stronger and more united. He prayed to Allah to ease the hardship as people struggle hard to flatten the curve, while wishing all Nigerians “Eid Mubarak.”