Anap Think Tank partners media houses to ‘name and shame’ violators of COVID-19 protocol

The Anap Foundation COVID-19 Think Tank, a group established to respond to the coronavirus disease, says it has launched a hall of shame initiative to highlight newsmakers who violate COVID-19 guidelines. 

In a statement issued on Thursday by Atedo Peterside and Abubakar Mohammed, its chairman and vice-chairman, respectively, the group said the initiative was launched in partnership with media houses.

It commended the federal government for signing the COVID-19 health protection regulations 2021, saying “if adhered to, will go a long way towards protecting us from the second wave”.

The group, however, noted that the COVID-19 regulations are still being flouted, especially by “people in influential positions”.

It explained that as part of efforts to flatten the curve, media platforms that have keyed into the name-and-shame initiative will not cover events where participants do not comply with the protocol, just as defaulters will also come under the spotlight.

“While there is room for mass communication of the regulations – which mainly reiterate the popular, global advice about managing the pandemic (avoiding crowds, physical distancing, washing hands, wearing masks etc.) – we note that duty bearers and people in influential positions are particularly egregious in their disregard for public safety protocols,” the statement reads.

“In furtherance of our objectives to promote behavioural change around managing the pandemic and ensuring effective stakeholder response to COVID-19, the Anap Think Tank announces our collaboration with the media to launch a “Name and Shame” Initiative. The Name and Shame Initiative will highlight the non-compliance of newsmakers by (i) not covering events or denying media coverage of events where participants do not comply with the Health Protection Regulations and (ii) spotlighting defaulters in the media.”

Media houses that have keyed into the initiative include TheCable, Arise TV, BusinessDay Newspaper, Channels TV, Classic FM, Daily Trust Newspaper, Premium Times, The Nation, ThisDay Newspaper and Vanguard Newspaper.

“We must continue to act clever and take every opportunity to protect ourselves, our neighbours and our country. We cannot afford another lockdown, but we can also not afford to act like we are not in the middle of a global pandemic that has already claimed 2 million lives globally,” the group added.