Coronavirus: 'Provide Relief For Poor Nigerians', Senate President Tells FG

 

Following the sit-at-home order in response to the widespread of Coronavirus (Covid-19) in the country, the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, charges the Federal Government to provide relief for poor Nigerians whose daily livelihood will be affected.

Lawan made the call during a meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly and some Ministers and Heads of Government Agencies on Wednesday in Abuja.

According to him, the restriction of movement will affect mostly the poor masses who have little or no means of income.

He, however, urged the Federal Government to devise a plan on how to release funds to the masses for the purpose of purchasing food and pharmaceutical supplies.

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“Our prayer is that we are able to overcome this menace of COVID-19 in good time, because it is really taking a toll on our lives. 

“If we have to eventually shut down our country, then as a government we must be prepared to have some relief for the most ordinary people.

“As a government, we must find our own money to fund something for our people, because the United States of America that is talked about or the British Parliament is because this involves public funds.

“I’m not seeing anything at the moment targeted at providing some relief. If we lock up Nigeria today, then we will wake-up trouble, because the majority of our citizens go to the market everyday before they can get something to eat.

“So, you lock them up in their houses with a threat of disease and without food. We need to have something, a plan of some sort, in addition to making sure we don’t lock up the farmers market for example, where people can easily go and buy something, and of course pharmacies.

“We need to have some kind of supplies to people, I don’t know how we can achieve this, but we have to be ingenious. 

“This is a time to think deep and wide, to provide for our people, in order for us at least to deal with this challenge at the moment,” Lawan advised.

The Senate President, in addition, urged the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control to establish more testing and isolation centres as soon as more funds are released to it by the Federal Government.

“I believe that our Committees on Health, in the Senate and in the House, must be alert to this, when funds are released, so that they (NCDC) don’t just go on jamboree spending the money elsewhere, where we may not achieve this kind of spread that is extremely necessary,” he said