Nigeria: Nigerian govt, insisting on virtual meetings, bans officials from official local travels

14 Juillet 2020

Abuja, Nigeria, July 14 (Infosplusgabon) - The Federal Government Monday announced the suspension of all “unnecessary” travels for meetings by government official until further notice, an official source said here.

Secretary to the government of the Federation (SGF) and chairman, Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha,  said the move forms part of measures to reduce the movement of people around the country.

He said the federal government was working to establish one sample collection centre per Local Government Area (LGA) as a way of addressing testing centre deficit.

For those in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the government also said that a sample collection centre had been set up at the Thisday Dome and all government hospitals within the capital territory.

Mustapha, who spoke at Monday’s media briefing in Abuja, reiterated the call for Nigerians to remain vigilant as the pandemic would not go away by a wish, neither would it go away if people refused to keep safe.

"Please let us all resolve to play our part, while Government does its best to save lives and livelihood. To this end, all government offices shall continue to hold virtual meetings in their offices especially where participants exceed four persons and suspend all unnecessary travels for meetings.

"For corporate organisations, board members, among others, the reopening of the domestic flights should not be misconstrued. The PTF strongly encourages virtual meetings as well.

“We still urge places of worship to cautiously follow the guidelines on public gatherings. And we urge members of the political class to exercise utmost circumspection in their gathering for whatever reasons."

Mustapha reiterated that contracting COVID-19 was not a death sentence, but not presenting oneself for testing or treatment when symptoms become observable could likely lead to avoidable death.

He stressed that all government or board meetings should be conducted virtually until further notice.

On the testing deficit, Mustapha said that the plan was to establish one sample collection center per local government areas.

"Underlying the above, as a cross-cutting initiative, is an enhanced Risk Communication Strategy designed not only to educate the citizenry on the virulence of the virus and individual and collective roles but more importantly to tackle the deliberate mis-information being bandied around especially in the social media.

"An enhanced Risk Communication strategy becomes inevitable when we realise that within the last 24 hours, the world witnessed the largest single day cases of 230,370 while in Nigeria the last week recorded the highest weekly fatality of 70 deaths," Mustapha said.

The PTF chair said that the rising fatalities in Nigeria were not unconnected with denial and delay in seeking help.

Mustapha said that the PTF was also encouraged by the compliance messages that had gone viral on the social media and that one of those that caught his attention gave three major reasons why COVID-19 was spreading fast.

He said, "They are my colleagues, so, I can speak without a mask; they are my close friends, so, I can speak without a mask; they are my relations, so, I can speak without a mask.”

"This message is so poignant that if we juxtapose it with the fact that crowded places and closed spaces create environment for the spread, we should behave more responsibly," Mustapha said.

On the controversy surrounding the schools resumption, the SGF said, "The PTF has followed with keen interest the conversation around the resumption of schools. We recognize that our children are precious and we would not do anything to compromise their safety.

"The PTF has assessed the circumstances and has put in place necessary guidelines to be followed while the managers of the sector have the responsibility for drawing up the protocols and determining the dates.

"We urge Nigerians to follow closely the critical steps being taken by the Federal Ministry of Education in conjunction with other stakeholders," he said.

He added that the Federal Ministry of Education had released guidelines for schools and learning facilities reopening after COVID-19 Pandemic closure.

He said that the guidelines clearly spelt out major things to consider before schools and learning facilities shall reopen, the reopening process, sequencing and scheduling of safe reopening and decisions about schools reopening.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/ANK/GABON2020

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