The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, on Thursday, advised Nigerians to stay at home and avoid peddling rumours as the world fights the coronavirus pandemic.
Oba Ogunwusi stated this while addressing newsmen at his palace in Ile Ife, Osun State.
POLITICS NIGERIA recalls that Osun State recorded its first index case some days ago. According to the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), it is a case of a traveller who arrived in the country not quite long.
However, the state government made it known that the situation of the patient is stable on Thursday morning.
The monarch said that it was important for citizens to believe in the ability of the government to secure them in this challenging period.
He urged Nigerians to adhere to all directives issued by the Federal and State Governments in order to be safe from the pandemic.
The Ooni said: “The easiest solution to it is for everyone to stay at home, COVID-19 is not a respecter of anybody and it does not honour anybody. This is the first time in a very long while that the whole world is having a common problem, we must tackle it together.”
Accordingly, Oba Ogunwusi said we must look beyond the current negativities attached and look at the lessons embedded in this challenging period of our lives.
The monarch said: “Coronavirus teaches high personal hygiene, let us be clean and embrace regular handwashing with clean water and sanitiser.
“It also teaches that Nigeria as a member of the global community should invest in something bigger and also respect nature because we need it to survive, nature does not need us.
“While staying at home, let us maintain a high level of decency and avoid rumour peddling because panic kills faster than the virus itself.
“We now have several fake news flying across, let us act responsibly by not instilling fear in one another and it shall be well with us.”
It should be noted that, as of Friday morning, there are 65 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Nigeria.
