Reflections on Buhari’s speech on COVID-19 pandemic

“Based on the advice of the Federal Ministry of Health and the NCDC, I am directing the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days with effect from 11pm on Monday, March 30, 2020. This restriction will also apply to Ogun State due to its close proximity to Lagos and the high traffic between the two states.”

–President Muhammadu Buhari in a national broadcast on March 29, 2020

Since Nigeria recorded its first positive case of coronavirus on February 27, 2020, many Nigerians called on the President to address the nation on his plans and strategies to contain the spread and ensure that the virus did not inflict maximum damage on our fragile country. Many compatriots are paranoid going by what other countries with better medical facilities than us such as Italy, Spain, Iran, China and the United States of America have been going through in dealing with the pandemic. Incidentally, though belatedly, the President did address the nation at 7pm on Monday, March 29, 2020.

The President’s address did stir some controversies with some eminent Nigerians claiming that he overreached himself with the declaration of lockdown in Lagos, Ogun and the FCT without recourse to the National Assembly. In order to silence his critics on this issue, the Presidency issued a statement on Monday night stating that the President acted in exercise of the powers conferred on him by Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the Quarantine Act (CAP Q2 LFN 2004), and “all other powers enabling him in that behalf.”

I have had the privilege of analysing the President’s speech on some radio and TV programmes in the FCT. I granted a telephone interview to Love 104.5 FM Abuja on it. I was also part of the panelists of four eminent Nigerians who discussed the speech on a flagship programme of the Nigerian Television Authority called, “Good Morning Nigeria” on Monday.

Personally, the President was on point in his broadcast. In his 65-paragraph speech, he articulated what his administration has so far done and what it also intends to do. He said his government is taking a two-step approach namely: “First, to protect the lives of our fellow Nigerians and residents living here and second, to preserve the livelihoods of workers and business owners to ensure their families get through this very difficult time in dignity and with hope and peace of mind”. According to him, his administration has introduced healthcare measures, border security, fiscal and monetary policies.

He articulated what has been done so far to include: Provision of  an initial intervention of N15bn to support the national response to contain and control the spread; inauguration of  a Presidential Task Force to develop a workable National Response Strategy that is being reviewed on a daily basis; recruitment of  hundreds of ad hoc staff to man COVID-19 call centres and support  tracing and testing efforts; request, through the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, for all state governments to nominate doctors and nurses who will be trained by the NCDC and the Lagos State Government on tactical and operational responses to the virus in case it spreads to other states. This training will also include medical representatives from our armed forces, paramilitary and security and intelligence agencies.

To me, the main gist of Buhari’s speech is in Paragraph 34 where he announced the lockdown of Lagos, Ogun and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days.  According to him, the period of the containment will be used to identify, trace and isolate all individuals that have come into contact with confirmed cases and ensure their treatment while restricting further spread to other States.

This is painful but desirable. As an Abuja resident, the lockdown is already taking a toll on me just a day into it. However, considering the snowballing of the number of persons who have tested positive in the last 48 hours of the President’s speech with figures, rising from 97 to 135 as of the time of writing this piece on Tuesday, there isn’t too much price to pay to stay alive and healthy. As the saying goes, health is wealth.

As already reported, many states have been taking proactive steps to stem the spread of the virus which has so far infected three governors – those of Bauchi, Kaduna and Oyo, the Chief of Staff to the President, Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly and many other Very Important Personalities. Some governors such as those of Katsina, Rivers, Oyo, Osun, Kwara, Niger and Delta, among others have closed their state boundaries and imposed restrictions on social gatherings, religious worships and people’s movement. In addition, the states are also kitting up isolation centres and procuring necessary medical supplies.

As of Tuesday morning when the Minster of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, appeared on “Good Morning Nigeria” on the NTA, he said the government is opening more test centres and acquiring test machines that can substantially reduce the turn around time for testing. It is believed that if all the necessary facilities are put in place, many more thousands of people willing to submit themselves for testing will have the opportunity with the test result out in a short period.

One key area of the President’s speech which is commendable is the rolled out palliative measures. The President promised relief materials for residents of satellite and commuter towns and communities around Lagos and Abuja whose livelihoods will be affected by some of these restrictive measures. He has also directed immediate three-month repayment moratorium for all TraderMoni, MarketMoni and FarmerMoni loans. Similar moratorium has been extended to all Federal Government funded loans issued by the Bank of Industry, Bank of Agriculture and the Nigeria Export Import Bank.

As for on-lending facilities using capital from international and multilateral development partners, the president directed Nigeria’s development financial institutions to engage these development partners and negotiate concessions to ease the pains of the borrowers. He also directed that the conditional cash transfers for the next two months be paid immediately while Internally displaced persons are to receive two months of food rations in the coming weeks.

Do all of these mean that the President’s speech was flawless? Far from it! For, instance, there were no timelines as to when the identified vulnerable groups will start getting the promised relief materials. The phrase “in the coming weeks” is very vague and ambivalent. In fact, the relief materials and the general palliatives should have preceded the lockdown to prevent what someone has ingeniously called “hunger-virus” which is more deadly than COVID-19.

The President should also have in addition to given timelines also come out with number of possible beneficiaries. When Lagos State opened its food bank last week, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu was very precise that the state was providing food supplies to 200,000 households. Similar stats were expected of the President.

I am totally against any plan to sustain the homegrown school feeding programme in schools at this time when schools have been shut down. There is no way this measure will not compromise the health of the schoolchildren who may not be able to respect the protocols on handwashing and social distancing. Thus, I propose that the President should shelve the idea.  He was also silent on how to prevent the virus from getting to the country’s correctional centres and other detention centres. These are places where hygiene and sanitation are luxuries.

I am unhappy that over 27 million members of the disability community (persons with disabilities) are not being targeted for the palliatives. These are vulnerable members of our society who need to be specially catered for at this crisis period.

It is however heartwarming that many Nigerians are heeding the plea of the President as enunciated in paragraph 55 of the speech to take personal responsibility to support those who are vulnerable within their communities, helping them with whatever they may need. The directive that all the Federal Government stadia, pilgrims camps and other facilities be converted to isolation centres and makeshift hospitals is also well-thought-out.

I appreciate the President for asking that all contributions and donations be coordinated by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in order to ensure efficient and impactful spending. This was the focus of my commentary on this page last week. In the spirit of transparency and accountability, it is important to have a centralised point for resource mobilisation and distribution so that when we overcome this plague, a proper account can be rendered to the public.