We may not experience total lockdown again, says SGF

Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), says the government will not consider another total lockdown.

As measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, President Muhammadu Buhari had declared a lockdown in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja for a period of five weeks, but  the lockdown was eased from May 4 and the economy has been partially opened.

At a briefing on Thursday, Mustapha who chairs the presidential task force on COVID-19, said what the government would do is to ensure compliance with the set regulations.

“We would study the situation and if there’s a need for review, that review would be advised by data, science, experiences of other jurisdiction and the peculiarities of our environment,” he said.

“To go back to a total lockdown must be taken in the context; what do we deserve to achieve, after we’ve locked down for about five weeks? The issue of review might not have that in consideration. We can’t move forward and start to move backward again in terms of our strategic implementation, we might not be looking towards that direction. But we might be looking at how to strengthen what we’ve put in place to ensure compliance

“At this moment, we have no choice. We have gotten to a stage that every Nigerian must take responsibility. Because what we are trying to to is for everybody to take ownership of how he or she navigates this entire pandemic process to stay alive and to survive it.

“The best that government can do in this circumstance is to make the guidelines, working with the sub national entities with our communities, religious leaders and all forms of informal sections so that the ownership is now transferred because the business has moved from where it was to the community. Unless as individuals and as communities we take responsibility, and we own the process, it would be difficult to navigate it.”

He said as more businesses open, people have to take personal responsibility as there’s much to what the government can do.

He added that he’s confident that Nigerians are resilient even in the midst of the crisis.