By Chimezie Godfrey
CLEEN Foundation has called for the establishment of more testing centres across Nigeria and the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for security agents.
The Executive Director of the Foundation, Benson Olugbuo in a statement on Tuesday, also asked the federal government and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, to embark on aggressive testing of citizens.
Olugbuo said the foundation had observed that compliance to government directives as regards the various policies put in place to curb the spread of the COVID-19 in the country, were yet to be fully observed by citizens.
He mentioned that the policies include the stay at home order, ban on gathering in public places, social and physical distancing guidelines, among others.
Olugbuo said that there is need for constant review of development across the country and adoption of new strategies, as the federal government plans a gradual relaxation of restrictions of movements imposed few weeks ago.
“The Federal Government and the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) should work towards activating more testing centers across Nigeria and embark on aggressive testing of citizens, intensify COVID-19 awareness in local communities by sensitizing the people about the seriousness of the virus and the danger of shielding infected persons.
“The Presidential Task Force should prioritise the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for security agents as promised by the President during the recent national broadcast.
“The Federal government and the Kano State government must investigate the recent reports of deaths of persons recorded within a short period in Kano state.
“The Federal government should increase its surveillance in Kano state and strengthen the state’s COVID-19 response system in the areas of capacity building and supply of testing kits.
“Federal and State Governments should prioritize the distribution of facemasks as a first line of defense against the COVID-19.
“The imbalance in the distribution of palliatives across the country should be addressed. Hunger and starvation have become an existential issue during the restriction of movement.”
The Executive Director, further pointed out that despite the lockdown of FCT, Lagos, and Ogun, the spread of the virus across states have continued to increase with 26 states of the federation and the FCT now having active cases of infected COVID-19 patients.
He revealed that much of the cause of the spread of the virus has been attributed to the continuous intra and interstate movement of citizens despite the restriction of movement, low compliance to social distancing guidelines and the complicity of some law enforcement and security personnel at different state borders.
He also noted that the decision of the governors of the thirty-six (36) states of the federation on Wednesday 22 April 2020 who agreed for a restriction of interstate movement in Nigeria, will hopefully go a long way to curb the spread of the virus.