Coronavirus: Share Money From Foreign Reserves To Nigerians To Stock Food, Ex-Minister Tells Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to dip hands into the country’s foreign reserves to provide poor Nigerians with money to stockpile their homes with food in view of restrictive measures adopted by  the government to curb spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country.

The recommended came from a former minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, who also advised President Buhari to “put the country under total lockdown and close ALL schools, public institutions, courts, private companies, shops, Churches, Mosques, airports, seaports, prisons, markets etc.”

The former minister said the president must also address the citizens on the pandemic without further delay.

Fani-Kayode said these after Nigeria’s confirmed cases of COVID-19 rose from three to twelve within 48 hours.

He said, “Only hospitals, isolation centres and security outfits should be left open and allowed to operate,” adding that Buhari “must also insist that people should practice the highest standard of hygiene, stock up food, stay in their homes, self-isolate, indulge in social- spacing, avoid unnecessary physical contact, pray hard, not panic and be strong.”

Fani-Kayode said, “Finally he MUST find a way of getting food and money out to those that are too poor to stock up at home and feed themselves and NEMA needs to swing into action with the help and support of the military for the purposes of distribution.

“That is the sort of thing that our foreign reserves and the cash that is in the Ecological Fund should be used for and he should not shy away from doing so.”

Nigeria had confirmed five cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday after which it confirmed four other cases of the virus on Thursday, bringing the country’s total active cases to 10.

Two of the first three cases had recovered from the virus and were declared negative by the Lagos State Government.