EXTRA: In Nigeria, ‘hunger virus’ is worse than coronavirus, says sultan

Sa’ad Abubakar, sultan of Sokoto, says hunger is much deadlier than coronavirus.

Speaking on Thursday at the first quarterly meeting of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) in Abuja, the sultan said people are struggling to survive in the country.

The monarch asked the government to implement recommendations that would improve the standard of living of the people.

“There is a very serious virus that is killing Nigerians much higher than Coronavirus. That virus is hunger,” the sultan said.

“There is hunger virus and it’s very serious. You need to go round the country, into the villages, into the towns and see how people are really struggling to survive.

“These are very serious issues, and as religious and community leaders, we must continue to talk about these issues, and also send our recommendations to the government and watch how the government will implement the recommendations.”

In February, Nigeria recorded the first case of coronavirus — an Italian who flew into the country from Milan, Italy, which has the highest recorded cases of the disease in Europe.

The second case was confirmed on Monday, and they are both receiving treatment at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak a pandemic with a record of over 126,000 infected people globally and 4,600 deaths.

According to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the virus, about 68,000 victims have recovered.