Mr Williams Osaze, the President of Society for Promotion of People’s Right, an NGO, has expressed worry over non-adherance by Nigerians to the Federal Government’s COVID-19 guidelines.
Osaze expressed his concern in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.
He said that the essence of the COVID-19 guidelines was to prevent rapid spread of the virus across the country, but expressed regret that many Nigerians had refused to adhere to it.
According to him, “I have discovered that most people, especially in the FCT, are no longer following the guidelines. They are just moving freely doing their normal business.”
“Some of the people I confronted, they told me there is nothing like COVID-19, I am getting very worried over nonchalant attitude of our people in this situation.
“Majority of people in the FCT, where I am living don’t wear their face masks, some will keep it inside their bags and only bring it out when they see road safety, VIO or police, which is very wrong.
“I keep asking questions that if our government cannot control our people, so they cannot take their own precautions, must they wait till when the authorities enforce it on them before they do the right thing?.
“The government had also given order to ensure the defaulters are arrested and taken to mobile courts, still the residents have refused to obey the guidelines.
“This is a disease that have killed billions of people worldwide yet our people don’t care to follow the guidelines.
“Government made it very clear that we should wear face mask, we should always wash our hands or make use of our hand sanitizers and keep social distancing.
“The Nigerian television, radio stations as well as social media are advertising and doing series of jingles on the guidelines.
“All these effort were to let people know the dos and don’ts on the guidelines and to enlighten them that this pandemics is real, but people still don’t want to obey the simple instructions.
“I am still surprise that our people are not ready to follow the simple guidelines that will not take away anything from them,” he said.
Osaze said that the government had set up a taskforce to monitor compliance with the guidelines, but advised that the committee should be more proactive.
He also advised the government to collaborate with other relevant stakeholders for effective sensitisation on dangers of the pandemic.
The NGO president said that the exercise should focus more on the rural communities, adding that some residents believed that the virus was a mirage, but which was far from the truth.
“Let me make it very clear to everyone that this COVID-19 does not have respect for age, colour, size, tribe, rich nor poor.
“The pandemic has come to stay, it is now left for us to be cautious by obeying the guidelines because it is a disease that has no care for now.”
Source:
NAN