Chikwe Ihekweazu, the Director General of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control The (NCDC) has said easing the lockdown in Ogun, Abuja and Lagos state is not a mistake.
The NCDC DG said this on Tuesday during an appearance on TVC in response to photos and videos that surfaced on social media showing Nigerians flouting the guidelines issued for the lockdown relaxation.
He stated that;
On our side, we don’t think there was a mistake. We knew at some point this day had to come but we really expected Nigerians and corporate Nigerians and and to take a little bit more responsibility for what happened yesterday.
Ihekweazu added that;
There is only little government can do. We can issue lockdown, we can bring out the police but we rely on the common sense of most Nigerians, we rely on corporate Nigerians to take responsibility.
He stressed that;
Lets take yesterday as an exception. Let us see how many corporates will come out of their offices and organize the queues in front of their offices. Let’s see how many corporates will organize their office spaces and actually put out their hand washings and educate their staff on the changes that they need to do for themselves.
This is not being done for us. This is being done for you. So all of us have to take responsibility.
The NCDC DG also hinted that some state governors have been unsupportive of the fight against the pandemic and also applauded other state governors for being proactive and cooperative.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has vowed to lockdown parts of the country again should there be a spike in coronavirus cases.
This was revealed during the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on Monday, May 4.
Speaking at the briefing, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu lamented that many banks flouted the NCDC’s guideline for social distancing, infection prevention and control on Monday.
He said although the NCDC expected some lapses in compliance with safety precautions, it was worried by the widespread disobedience to the guidelines by corporate organisations.
See photos of people flouting social distancing guidelines on Monday;
