By Correspondent in Minna
As Nigeria and other parts of the world battlesl the second wave of the Corona Virus (COVID-19), stakeholders in Niger state have given conditions before they comply with the federal and state government’s directives.
They gave the condition at a one Day joint COVID-19 Awareness and Prevention meeting, organized by Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN) and Niger USAID E-WASH in Minna on Wednesday.
The stakeholders insisted that for full compliance with lockdown against the new wave of COVID-19, they and the state government must sit on a roundtable and agree on the modalities and formalities for the distribution and sharing of the palliatives.
The participants said the condition became necessary because they were not satisfied with the manner the state government managed the palliatives during the first phase of the lockdown.
Our correspondent reports that participants at the meeting which includes religious leaders, Health workers, traditional institutions, Market leaders and the media, complained of hoarding of food items meant to cushion the effect of the deadly disease in the state.
Speaking during the interactive session, the Ward Head of Fadikpe (Minna metropolis), Alhaji Danladi Musa Jibrin who expressed fear of apathy on citizens, called on the government do its best to ensure that “the second wave of the disease does not get out of hand.”
While calling on all three tiers of governments to act fast by evolving a more holistic means of tackling the company, to save the poor from the impact of the Second Wave of Covid-19, speakers at the meeting said Nigerians were wiser now and would not want to be deceived for a second time.
The participants expressed fear that thee second wave of COVID-19 might much telling effects the people,especially we the poor masses,and called on the state government to act fast to ensure the “disease does not escalate beyond what we already heard, by ensuring that what happened during the first wave should be avoided.”
“As religious and traditional leaders, we are telling the local, state and federal government to reach out to the genuine needy and poorest of the poor in the society and as well avoid politicizing anything to favour a particular political party against others,” they said.
Specifically, Hajiya Hadiza Mohammed Saba said it would be quite difficult for people to listen to the government urging them to adhere to stay at home when they had no food to eat.
She called on the government to be more committed and sensitive to the suffering of the people.
“Why should they expect the Nigerian masses to comply with the directive to stay at home with what they have experienced in the past when they have no food at home? she said.
Meanwhile, in a key note address, the Director Niger State Primary Health Care Development Agency, (NPHCDA), Dr. Hauwa Kolo, urged the people in the state to adhere strictly to COVID-19 regulations to prevent the spread of the second wave of the deadly virus.
The Reporters recalls that the virus emanated from Wuhan, China and first reported on December 31 while recorded it on February 27,2020.
The Director, however, explained that out of the over 5, 000 persons tested in the state, 338 had tested positive to COVID-19 with 12 deaths so far recorded across the 25 local government areas of the state.
She said tests were conducted on all the samples at the state Micro Biology Laboratory without transporting the samples any longer to Abuja.
“We advise anyone with symptoms of the disease to visit our location, to run test for the corona virus. The tests are free of charge.” she assured.