Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
As anxiety mounts over the coronavirus pandemic, member, House of Representatives, Aguata Federal Constituency, Chukwuma Umeoji, has said that the country needs drastic measures to check the spread of the virus.
Umeoji, who is a member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance( APGA), said concerted effort must be made by the government to contain the virus. This is because, according to him, the country cannot cope with the management of the pandemic, if it spreads, owing to poor health infrastructure.
How do you assess government response to the coronavirus pandemic ravaging countries across the world?
The level of attention and preparedness is poor and portends great danger for the country. The assurance given cannot be sustained by the physical evidence on the ground. This is not the time to play politics with the people.
The government in the three tiers of Federal, State and local governments should marshal out incentives to motivate health workers to have the courage to attend to victims of the virus. The greatest dispatch is needed to provide health workers with adequate life insurance if their services and dedication to duty is to be guaranteed.
In a matter of days, the coronavirus pandemic will expand to many states of the federation. The government should open the borders to enable essential health equipment, especially chemicals used in the pharmaceutical sectors, come into the country.
Incentives should be given to the companies to produce the much desired chloroquine tablets. The borders should be opened for essential toiletries to get into the country immediately due to panic buying.
The impact of the virus will be worse on a large number of people in an enclosure. Nigerian prisons are overcrowded and notorious for poor hygiene standards. The spread of the virus under such an environment will be rapid and deadly.
As a matter of urgency, the government should carry out proper documentation of prisoners to ensure their return to prison after the end of the epidemic. Their next of kin should be recorded to force their return to prison.
All prisoners nationwide should be released and all prison facilities converted to isolation centres for the treatment of coronavirus across the country. A delay will lead to severe casualties. The virus must be taken seriously and preventive measures deployed to enable the nation survive the pandemic.
There should be travel restrictions on inter-state movements. There should be a public announcement to prepare the people psychologically for the policy. Without travel restrictions internally, the virus cannot be contained.
It is important to put the ministries, agency and parastatals on notice for a possible work from home. The ICT departments must without delay draw a work plan to enable the workers work from their homes. Meetings and discussions can be done via video link and conferencing.
Nigerians should take the virus serious and get prepared for the worst-case scenario. If the virus spreads, the country lacks the health infrastructure to contain the pandemic.
Nigerians should know that this is a biological warfare more deadly than conventional warfare. The populace should be put on the alert.