Local Government Administration And Fight Against COVID-19

In a federal system of government, the local administration as the third-tier, is statutorily the government which people readily feel the impact of because of its proximity to them.

Against this background, the local government administration has got a
huge task in curtailing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic across the world. In Nigeria, for instance, the local government
administration is the custodian of the traditional institutions, town unions, market associations, neighbourhood watch groups, among other
bodies sprouting at ward levels.

Thus, local government chairmen,
through these apparatuses, can become the pivot towards combating this
zoonotic virus that recently found its way into humans.

Attaining this goal is not rocket science, with the template of China’s city of Wuhan, where the pandemic started, which incidentally the World Health Organisation has already adopted. Such measures include personal hygiene, eating balanced diet, adequate rest, regular hand washing, use of hand sanitizers, wearing face masks, eschewing
overcrowded places, covering one’s mouth and nostrils when sneezing and coughing, avoiding immune-suppressant habits, like alcoholic
indulgence and smoking; and above all, contacting relevant authorities
when one is exposed or shows symptoms of the infection.

It therefore becomes pertinent that victory over the pandemic is achievable through individual and societal discipline.

The bottom line is sensitisation. Council chairmen have a lot to do in driving these precautions to every nook and cranny of the country. They already have the networks, mainly built during electioneering
campaigns and various health programmes. What they therefore need do is to re-galvanise these networks and drive the campaign to the grassroots. They should be able to reach out to the people through
house-to-house approaches by using traditional rulers, ward
councillors, religious bodies, traders’ associations, women’s groups, heads of schools as well as youth leaders.

Local government chairmen and their paraphernalia should brace for this challenge by making themselves more relevant. They should see themselves as frontliners. In a modern clime, societal
responsibilities are allocated according to the level of relevance.
The outcries in some quarters that the local government administration
is being subjugated and supplanted by some state governments are largely due to lack of administrative savvy shown by those
steering the ships of local governments.
If council chairmen show enough commitment towards this battle, and
by extension, re-awakening various federal agencies in their domains, such as the National Orientation Agency, there is no doubt that more assignments would be assigned to them in this trying time, such as becoming the routes towards providing palliatives to the suffering masses, as well as assisting the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and other health authorities in prompt encapsulation of developments in the fight against Covid-19 across the federation.

Health officers as well as information officers at the council level should also wake up to these responsibilities, and become the flagship
in orientating rural people on this emerging pandemic. They should
sensitize people not only on how to apply the precautionary measures,
such as hand sanitizers, but also how to locally manufacture them. It
then behooves council chairmen to provide a conducive atmosphere for the success for these onerous tasks.

It is still heart-rending that some people are yet to be convinced that this pandemic is even real. It beats imaginations that in some remote areas, various restriction orders are violated with impunity. Council chairmen should wear the toga in dissuading this kind of notion before it turns into a malignant cancer.

For the sake of emphasis, the local government administration has over
the years been the most potent platform for mobilising electorate
during elections. Various political parties aggressively woo votes by planting hierarchies of leaderships at that level, and ensuring that
they perform optimally.

As this Covid-19 has turned out to be apolitical, the right time to synchronise and harvest various
divergent political vibes is now to nip the scourge in the bud.

The local government administration and relevant stakeholders should also be given the due recognition by state and federal governments in the fight against Covid-19 by carrying them along, otherwise they remain helpless captains in a sinking ship.

-Aroh wrote from Enugu. 08069822488, [email protected]

Disclaimer: This article is entirely the opinion of the writer and does not represent the views of The Whistler.