A Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, has reacted to the extension of the lockdown by 14 days in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun states.
POLITICS NIGERIA reported how the extension, which is to curb the spread of coronavirus, was announced by President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday.
He said the extension was to further check the spread of COVID-19 which has infected 323 people in Nigeria and caused 10 deaths.
According to Mr Buhari, the 14 days extension commences from today night.
The president appealed to Nigerians to obey the directive and others by different state governments.“This is not a joke. It is a matter of life and death,” he said.
However, in its reaction sent to POLITICS NIGERIA through the spokesperson, Yinka Odumakin, Afenifere expresses worry over the continuation without necessary palliatives.
“We understand why it is necessary to extend the lockdown and took note of his appreciation of the sacrifices of the past two weeks.
“But we have our worry about the continuation of the so-called palliatives of the past 14 days. We doubt if this is reaching the people. And it is a fact that you can’t get palliatives to the people from Abuja. The idea of promising to reach 3.6 m households in a country with over 80m people living in extreme poverty is a far cry.
“How much of the economy can we build in the midst of Coronavirus that we didn’t build in time we didn’t have a pandemic remains to be seen.”
“The President is also enjoined to take note of the upheavals and security challenges in the lockdown areas,” the statement read in parts.
