COVID-19: Buhari’s Minister Kicks Against Another Lockdown

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, has kicked against the imposition of another total lockdown in the country.

This came after the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, suggested that the federal government may impose a second lockdown to curb the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country.

President Muhammadu Buhari had approved a “gradual and partial” easing of the two-week lockdown imposed in Lagos and Ogun states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory, to enable citizens return to work and their businesses.

The NCDC DG had warned that an explosion in infection figures after the eased lockdown could lead to the declaration of another restriction of movement by President Buhari.

“If we do have that explosion, there will be almost no choice left for the leadership of the country than to ask all of us to go back into our homes,” Ihekweazu had said.

But reacting in a tweet on Sunday, Keyamo said imposing another partial lockdown in the country would be counterproductive.

“My personal view is that another total lockdown would be counterproductive. Before defeating the virus, we must learn to live with it all around us & practice the skills of avoiding it like a landmine. Practice makes perfect. We cannot perfect those skills by locking ourselves up,” said the minister.