Femi Gbajabiamila who is the speaker of the House of Rep has warned the people of Nigeria to contain the spread of the virus as soon as possible in order to avoid the large scale of the pandemic in the Country.
He also said the curfew and lockdown that were put in place to contain the widespread of the virus in the 3 major cities, Lagos, Ogun, and Abuja is to help the people and advises they maintain and obey the lockdown order given by President Buhari.
He also said he acknowledge that the people are finding it hard to adjust to the hard time. The statement below was sent to DAILY POST by Lanre Lasisi, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Speaker.
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“Honourable colleagues, as leaders in your constituencies, you must ensure that the people in your local communities understand the reasons for these restrictions, and adhere to all preventative measures such as handwashing, social distancing and other guidelines set out by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
“Our best hope is to prevent the massive outbreak of this disease in Nigeria. If we fail to do that, and this disease begins to transmit at scale, all our worst nightmares will become manifest at once, and our misfortunes will compound beyond our ability to respond. We will be left to seek our recover, with limited resources in a long and brutal process from which we cannot emerge unscathed. We must keep in mind this unfortunate truth and act accordingly.
“Many have postulated that our current approach to managing the pandemic will not yield the results we desire. It has been suggested that we should look at other alternatives in dealing with this virus; alternatives that are more suited to our economic structure and cultural makeup and are custom-made to our way of life.
“Recommendations have also been made to the effect that we should lift the lockdown, open up the economy with restrictions, including the compulsory wearing of masks in public places. We will consider all of these recommendations and more. Whichever way we go, the total defeat of this virus must be our immediate goal and our highest priority.”
The House of Rep has also created a Covid-19 Strategic Response Team (CRST) which will help in updating the Legislative Agenda to work on Nigeria’s post-Covid-19. IMF also predicted that Nigeria will go into a big recession after the pandemic, so we hope this strategy works.
In his statement, he said;
“The Strategic Response Team will be supported by a group of technical experts, private sector leaders, and representatives. Their experience and expertise will ensure that the policy proposals presented to the House are rigorously grounded in a fact-based reality.”
“We intend to bring these unique perspectives in our ongoing work to codify the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIP) into a Bill that will be considered by the House at our next adjourned date.
“We will also at that time seek to pass a second Economic Stimulus Bill to provide necessary relief to individuals and corporate organizations in Nigeria. We expect that before then, the Senate will quickly consider and pass the first Economic Stimulus Bill which has since passed in the House and now awaits concurrence by the Senate.”
Talking about the current economy of the country and the world at large, he said;
“At a time when the social welfare demands on the public purse are higher than they have ever been, our present reality calls for nothing short of a wholesale reform of our governing structures, systems, and processes.
“Any such efforts must of necessity, begin with drastic reductions in the cost of governance coupled with determined efforts to drive economic diversity and innovation in the non-oil sector.”
“There are no longer any sacred cows, protected spaces, or classes. Every area of our national health policy, economic policy, tax policy, education policy, and security architecture are now on the table for reform.
“We must turn this moment of profound crises into an opportunity to make the hard choices we have too long deferred but can now no longer avoid if we are to survive as a nation. This House of Representatives is ready, and I trust that we will find allies in government and across our country who are prepared to make the changes that our country needs to survive, recover and thrive.”
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