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By Soyombo Opeyemi
Governments across the country should end COVID-19 lockdown today, not tomorrow. Owing to the sudden halt in commercial activities, which has exacerbated the economic downturn in Nigeria, private organisations are laying off their workers. Some companies are paying their staffs 50 per cent or 25 per cent of their salaries. Some firms are not paying at all – they are not making money; they are no longer in business! If private primary, secondary and tertiary educational institutions are to remain closed, then governments across the federation must bail them out financially, as they do not depend on government subvention or grants in order to pay their workers. They generate their own income through the services they offer to the public. For now, the only Nigerians whose jobs and emoluments are secure are public sector workers, who are not up to five per cent of the country’s population.
The present situation, occasioned by COVID-19 lockdown, can degenerate to social anomie. Worst hit are the private educational institutions. They can only pay salaries from school fees. For months now, the children are not in school across the federation as a result of COVID-19 lockdown. In the absence of bailouts from the central and state governments, the private academies are in dire financial straits. Any further delay in removing completely the lockdown may spell doom for the country. At the moment, the unemployment situation has skyrocketed. Prices of goods have shot up astronomically as a result of economic paralysis occasioned by the lockdown. An economy already on life support is now in the throes of complete annihilation as inter-state movements are still banned.
While these 80 per cent of the working population still reel under the yoke of the intolerable conditions imposed by the lockdown, the continued lockdown has further threatened the livelihoods of a substantial number of the workers in the formal sector – who work for private organisations. Currently, there is a dangerous surge in crime. States are battling with rise in teenage pregnancies, cases of rape with murder as a result of closure of schools. Idle hands work for the devil! As livelihoods of citizens are wiped off, the rate of suicide as a result of frustrations will increase. We appreciate the efforts of governments across the federation to protect Nigerians from the infectious disease. Now is the time to end the lockdown and restriction of movement of citizens across the country. We cannot kill a million in order to protect a ten. Currently, more Nigerians are dying from other diseases than COVID-19. We sympathize with those who lost their loved ones to the pandemic. Our hearts are with them.
As experts have predicted, coronavirus is not about to disappear even if we lock down Nigeria for the rest of the year. A degeneration of the social anomie is inevitable if the lockdown with the inter-state travel restrictions is not totally removed. It’s time to end the hysteria about coronavirus. With the high rate of disregard of Nigerians for safety regulations such as social distancing and use of face masks, especially in markets, bus stops and bank premises, millions of Nigerians should have succumbed to the deadly disease! Could it be that the survival instincts of Nigerians are underrated? This is not to suggest the infectious disease is not as deadly as assumed. The efforts of governments across the country are appreciated. But now is the time for the nation to move on with life. The lockdown is not sustainable.
Normal life should return. Schools should reopen while managements should ensure compliance with social distancing and use of face masks. Worship centres should reopen with adherence to safety regulations. It’s time the lockdown is terminated in Nigeria.
Opeyemi, a media practitioner and public affairs commentator, wrote from Lagos.
