On Friday 22nd January 2021, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo raised alarm on the increasing numbers of confirmed cases of COVID-19 that becomes critical, which might affect the economy of the nation.
According to a statement by Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, the Vice President made the observation when he toured the facilities of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control’s Reference Laboratory, Gaduwa, Abuja.
He was accompanied by the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire; Minister of State for Health, Olorunnimbe Mamora; and the Director-General, NCDC, Chikwe Ihekweazu.
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“Not yet where we want, but we are making significant progress in public health sector”, says Osinbajo.
Akande quoted Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as lamenting that “we have a critical situation on our hands currently with the increasing number of cases being recorded”. The Vice President was further quoted as saying that a lot of progress has been made since Nigeria’s first case was reported in February 2020.
He said, “We have activated nearly 120 laboratories nationwide – 70 of them public laboratories – and have significantly ramped up our testing and case management capacity.
“We have expanded the footprint of our sovereign public health response capabilities especially at the subnational level and in areas where previously such capabilities did not exist.
“Not so long ago, test samples had to be flown out of the country for examination. This is no longer the case as we now have the capacity to process samples internally.”
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo further said that the achievements recorded so far should not be taken for granted, however, the present regime is committed to consolidating on them, “While we are not yet where we want to be as a nation, we are most certainly not where we were at the onset of the pandemic” he said.
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The general opinion was split between two view points;
- Covid-19 is real, and present in Nigeria, but not as serious as the government and the media make it sound. It should therefore cause little worry as Malaria should cause.
- Covid-19 is not present in Nigeria, those in government and their cronies are using it as an excuse to siphon public funds.
Overall, most of our respondents just want to get on with their regular lives, and not shackled by Covid-19 restrictions and preventive measures like social distancing.
By; Authentic Mike
