President Buhari has extended the lockdown in Lagos, Abuja
and Ogun state by one week.
In his broadcast this evening, the President said the
lockdown will be phased off gradually beginning from May 4th.
He recognised the economic impact of the lockdown and said
no economy can afford a continued lockdown as they await a cure or vaccine for
the viral disease. He also approved a total lockdown in Kano for two weeks.
In his words
''Fellow Nigerians, for the past four weeks, most parts of
our country have been under either Federal Government or State Government lockdowns. As I mentioned earlier, these
steps were necessary and overall, have contributed to slowing down the spread
of COVID nineteen in Nigeria.
However, such lock downs have also coame at a very heavy
economic cost. Many of our citizens have lost their means of livelihoods. Many
businesses have also shut down. No country can afford the full impact of a
sustained lockdown while awaiting the development of vaccines or cures.
In my last address, I mentioned the Federal Government will
develop strategies and policies that will protect lives while preserving
livelihoods.
In these two weeks, the Federal and State Governments have
jointly and collaboratively worked hard on thishow to balance the need to
protect health while also preserving livelihoods, leveraging global best
practice while keeping in mind our peculiar circumstances.
We looked atassessed how our factories, markets, traders and
transporters can continue to function while at the same time respecting
adhering to the NCDC guidelines on hygiene and social distancing.
We assessed how our children can continue to learn without
compromising their health.
We reviewed how our farmers can safely plant and harvest in
this rainy season to ensure our food security is not compromised. Furthermore,
we also discussed how to safely transport food items from rural production
areas to industrial processing zones and ultimately, to the key consumption
centers.
Our goal was to develop implementable policies that will
ensure our economy continues to function with while still maintaining our
aggressive response to the COVID nineteen pandemic. These same difficult
decisions are being faced by leaders around the world.
Based on the above and in line with the recommendations of
the Presidential Task Force on COVID nineteen, the various Federal Government
committees that have reviewed socio-economic matters and the Nigeria Governors
Forum, I have approved for a phased and gradual easing of lockdown measures in
FCT, Lagos and Ogun States effective from
May4 2020 at 9am.
However, this will be followed strictly with aggressive
reinforcement of testing and contact tracing measures while allowing the
restoration of some economic and business activities in certain sectors.
The highlights of the new nationwide measures are as
follows;
a. Selected businesses and offices can open from 9am to 6pm;
b. There will be an overnight curfew from 8pm to 6am. This
means all movements are will be prohibited during this period except essential
services;
c. There will be a ban on non-essential inter-state
passenger travels until further notice;
d. There will be Partial and controlled interstate movement
of goods and services will be allowed to allow for the movement of goods and services from producers to
consumers; and
e. We will strictly ensure the mandatory use of face masks
or coverings in public in addition to maintaining physical distancing and
personal hygiene. Furthermore, the restrictions of on social and religious
gathers shall remain in place. State Governments, corporate organisations and
philanthropists are encouraged to support the production of cloth masks for
citizens.
For the avoidance of doubt, the lockdown in the FCT, Lagos
& Ogun States shall subsist remain in place until these new ones come into
effect on 4th May 2020 at 9am.'' he said
