GNI Urges Nigerians To Endure The Covid-19 Lockdown Pain

A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ogun State, Prince Gboyega Nasir Isiaka, has urged Nigerians to endure the pains of the lockdown, describing it as unfortunate but neccessary.

He noted this while responding to a comment made on a WhatsApp group named Ogun State Watch.

He said, “We all have to face the reality in this matter. Neither the governments nor governed invented this pandemic. From what we have been reading, the people that saw it coming and made some predictions of it can be counted on the finger tips of one of our hands. Hence, it has caught everybody napping including the most organised and data driven societies that are ranked tops in health care infrastructure by all known rating agencies.”

While urging Nigerians to manage their expectations, GNI noted; “I am a strong advocate of welfarism in governance particularly protecting the weak and vulnerable hence will support getting palliatives to as many of our people as possible in the circumstances that we find ourselves. But to expect that this will be done 100% smoothly in an unexpected situation that we find ourselves may be asking for too much”.
“Also, we have to truthfully and sincerely strike an optimal balance between the (unpleasant) pain of not having enough to eat and the cost of a ballooning pandemic (God forbid) in our land. What we hear is happening to other lands as we speak and what we understood happened in 1918/19 when our newly amalgamated nation lost about 2.5 per cent of her less than 17million+ population to a pandemic sound definitely much more unpleasant than the pain of not having access to enough within a few weeks lockdown.”

GNI then pleaded with Government at all levels to do alot more particularly to improve the logistics of getting palliatives to the needy.

“I will plead for individuals and corporate bodies with means to continue to complement Government’s efforts either directly to the people or through the government pool. But equally important, I will request that our people should manage the pain in this tough time because the possible alternative cost of not achieving the objective of this lockdown can be more grievous and will not be our portion in this land Insha Allah.

“As the very popular saying goes, tough times dont last, tough people do. In my opinion, it is only in unison and full appreciation of cost and benefit that we can approach and win this unusual war. Irrespective of our socio-political leaning or belief,” he concluded.