The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the Presidency of not
‘being alive’ to its responsibilities by failing to take necessary steps
to avoid the entrance of Coronavirus into the country.
Nigerians woke up to the news on Friday that the first case of the
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was brought into the country by an
Italian.
According to the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire who confirmed the
development, the Italian citizen whose identity is yet to be revealed,
works in Nigeria and just returned from Milan on the 25th of February
2020.
Dr Ehanire explained that travelers were not isolated due to the
recommendation of the World Health Organisation (WHO), adding that the
United Nations agency stated that newly arrived travelers should also be
advised to stay in isolation for 14 days, in the interest of their
family and loved ones.
The PDP in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola
Ologbondiyan, on Friday, berated the Buhari Presidency for its
negligence and laidback attitude, stressing that “a responsive and
proactive government would have mobilized effective surveillance and
screening measures to ward off the menace.”
The party noted that the welfare of Nigerians should be highly placed,
but no concrete steps were taken to hedge the country against the virus,
leading to the current scary situation.
“The PDP notes that a responsive and proactive government would have
mobilized effective surveillance and screening measures to ward off the
menace, particularly at our entry points, but the incompetent,
insensitive and indifferent Buhari administration, was more interested
in propaganda and unnecessary showboating with false performance claims.
“The PDP said Nigerians should directly hold the Buhari Presidency
responsible should any national calamity arose from COVID-19 in addition
to the economic and security challenges its negligence had caused our
nation.”
The PDP also added that Nigerians can no longer move freely across their
country for fear of insurgents, bandits, kidnappers, and now
coronavirus.
“The PDP, therefore, calls on Nigerians not to despair but stir up the
Nigerian resilient spirit for an urgent, multi-sectoral concerted effort
by agencies, groups, corporate entities, and public-spirited individuals
to immediately curb the disease before it spreads, particularly given
the prevalent security, economic and humanitarian challenges in the
country.
“The party called on the Federal Government to end its cosmetic attitude
and immediately adopt the proactive strategy used by the PDP
administration to promptly contain the Ebola Virus disease in 2014,” the
statement read in parts.