Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) has identified house-to-house and public awareness campaigns as part of public health information strategies needed to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) in Nigeria.
The group comprising of all registered political parties in the country also suggested that the Federal Government take the campaign against COVID-19 to rural areas, rather than just focusing on the urban centres.
The newly elected chairman of IPAC in Osun State, Alhaji Ajao Adelakin, speaking at a news conference after his inauguration, said politicians should be carried along in the fight against COVID-19.
He said politicians are already familiar with the masses, hence the need to make use of them in waging war against the dreaded disease, as they know the people and the best ways to appeal to them on measures to take to prevent the spread of the disease.
Adelakin assured that the group was ready to assist the government to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
He mentioned, on an unrelated noted, that the deregistration of some political parties in the country by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) led to the election of new executives of the IPAC in the state, as INEC had, according to him, directed all States to elect a new set of officers to pilot the affairs of the organisation in the States.
He said 17 of the remaining political parties in the country are part of the IPAC in the State.
Other members of executives elected are Abiodun Afolabi (secretary), Akande Victor ( Treasurer), Sola Oladehinde (Financial Secretary), Goke Adefari (Organizing Secretary) and Bunmi Adetunji (Publicity Secretary).