COVID-19 Lockdown extension: Ex-lawmaker pleads for compliance, says govt not also happy about it

A former member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Dipo Olorunrinu has admonished Nigerians to make sacrifices over the Federal and Lagos State Government’s lockdown extension in Lagos and Ogun states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, to combat spread of COVID-19.

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Olorunrinu, who represented Amuwo-Odofin Constituency I at the 8th Lagos Assembly, made this appeal in an interview with newsmen in Lagos following the extension of the lockdown order to prevent the further spread of Coronavirus.

According to the former lone Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker, President Muhammadu Buhari and Gov.Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State have done well in extending the lockdown.

Olorunrinu, who defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) days to the expiration of his tenure, however, called on the government to do more in educating Nigerians on the virus and the reasons for the lockdown.

“The stay-at-home that we call lockdown, is quite a very good idea though it should have come earlier, but we thank God it has come to protect Nigerians from infections that had claimed over 100,000 lives globally within a short period.

“Looking at the masses on the other hands, I think they need to be more schooled. We need to increase the level of education about this virus on the Televisions, radios and through other advocacy or sensitisation programmes.

“I think people need more education. People need more awareness to come to understand that life is more important than some of the cries of hunger people are making. The lockdown itself doesn’t pay the government but it must do it to secure Nigerians.

“We understand there is a need for relief materials which the Federal Government and Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu have been doing in Lagos. I applaud the governor for his proactiveness and palliatives,” Olorunrinu said.

The lawmaker, who said he feels for the vulnerable and poor, said that the havoc being wrecked by the deadly virus in developed world should make Nigerians cooperate with the government on the lockdown.

Olorunrinu, who noted that Nigerians needed to be more informed about the deadly virus, said that Nigeria’s health facilities were not as sophisticated as those of developed world where several lives have been lost to the pandemic.

“The best approach is to cooperate with the government notwithstanding the economic hardship. The lockdown should not be termed locking people down. It is in the interest of the people.

“Even the lockdown does not pay the government. The lockdown doesn’t pay the country, but when there is life there is hope. It does not pay anybody. What is important most is to keep life going.

“Nigerians have to make that sacrifices. We will soon come back to the road for our usually hustling and bustling,” Olorunrinu said.

President Muhammadu Buhari in a broadcast on the coronavirus pandemic on March 29, had ordered a restriction of movements in Lagos, Ogun and the FCT for a period of initial 14-days to combat spread of the deadly virus, the President, in another national broadcast on Monday extended the sit-at-home order for another period of 14-days.