Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Members of the executive committee of Housing Estate Community, Fegge, Onitsha, Anambra State, have embarked on a door-to-door sensitisation and fumigation exercise among residents, towards ensuring that the coronavirus pandemic does not spread in the area.
President-general of the community, Mr. Afam Udeogalanya, who led the exercise recently, said the essence was to complement the efforts of the Governor Willie Obiano administration in containing the spread of the deadly virus. Udeogalanya said the area had been fumigated against the COVID-19 pandemic, while the executive had to make extra efforts to also carry out the same exercise against mosquito vectors and parasites in the area so as to maintain a high level of hygiene.
Residents of the area were also enlightened on the need to embrace the various World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines in preventing the spread of the virus, while various sanitary items were also distributed.
Udeogalanya said the importance of maintaining high personal and community hygiene in this period of COVID-19 pandemic could not be overemphasized, noting that such practices should be internalised as a tradition, instead of a stop-gap measure, because of the pandemic.
“We are talking about coronavirus today and the whole world is shaking because they say there is no cure for it. But malaria, despite having thousands of drugs for its treatment, is still a very big challenge to us in Nigeria.
“When we reduce mosquito bites to zero level in this area, it will go a long way to prevent malaria attack, which is the commonest sickness with serious consequences that the black people suffer from all over Africa,” he said.
The president-general, who also gave various cash gifts to widows in the area to cushion the harsh effect of the lockdown, appreciated the various efforts of the state government in COVID-19 containment and urged all other public-spirited individuals to lend a helping hand and lift one another in this period.
Secretary of the estate, Mr. Obi Anaebere, a lawyer, described the exercise as a welcome development. He said the executives of the estate have been rendering selfless service to the people, because leadership is all about service. He said the people have been implementing hand-washing with soap and use of sanitizers, as directed by the government, adding that the order had recorded a high level of compliance in the area.
Lady Chinelo Muonwe said the fumigation would reduce frequent visits to hospitals for treatment among residents of the area. She also made a case for equitable distribution of various government palliatives for cushioning the effect of the lockdown, noting that many people, including widows, were not getting the various packages that were being hyped in the media.
Patron of the estate, Chief Marcel Orji, said there was the need for a change of lifestyle henceforth to avert the spread of the coronavirus. He recalled that, before now, many residents of the estate normally converged at the Ugborimili Primary School field for physical exercise but the executives took a hard decision to shut the place so as to avoid any ugly news in this trying period.
The councillor representing the area, Frank Chike Udemadu, described the exercise as a selfless one, which should not only be encouraged but emulated by every community, even as he noted that it was practically impossible for government to do everything for the people.