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President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed a two-step approach in mitigating the challenges that come with the battle against novel Coronavirus disease in Nigeria.
He made the revelation during his nationwide broadcast to Nigerians on Sunday.
his words:”Although we have adopted strategies used globally, our implementation programs have been tailored to reflect our local realities. In Nigeria, we are taking a two-step approach.
“First, to protect the lives of our fellow Nigerians and residents living here and second, to preserve the livelihoods of workers and business owners to ensure their families get through this very difficult time in dignity and with hope and peace of mind.
“To date, we have introduced healthcare measures, border security, fiscal and monetary policies in our response. We shall continue to do so as the situation unfolds.
“Some of these measures will surely cause major inconveniences to many citizens. But these are sacrifices we should all be willing and ready to make for the greater good of our country.
“In Nigeria’s fight against COVID-19, there is no such thing as an overreaction or an under reaction. It is all about the right reaction by the right agencies and trained experts.
“Accordingly, as a Government, we will continue to rely on the guidance of our medical professionals and experts at the Ministry of Health, NCDC and other relevant agencies through this difficult time.
“I therefore urge all citizens to adhere to their guidelines as they are released from time to time.
“As we are all aware, Lagos and Abuja have the majority of confirmed cases in Nigeria. Our focus therefore remains to urgently and drastically contain these cases, and to support other states and regions in the best way we can.
“This is why we provided an initial intervention of fifteen billion Naira (N15b) to support the national response as we fight to contain and control the spread.
“We also created a Presidential Task Force (PTF) to develop a workable National Response Strategy that is being reviewed on a daily basis as the requirements change. This strategy takes international best practices but adopts them to suit our unique local circumstances.
“Our goal is to ensure all States have the right support and manpower to respond immediately.
“So far, in Lagos and Abuja, we have recruited hundreds of adhoc staff to man our call centers and support our tracing and testing efforts.
“I also requested, through the Nigeria Governors Forum, for all State Governments to nominate Doctors and Nurses who will be trained by the NCDC and Lagos State Government on tactical and operational response to the virus in case it spreads to other states.
“This training will also include medical representatives from our armed forces, paramilitary and security and intelligence agencies.
” As a nation, our response must be guided, systematic and professional. There is a need for consistency across the nation. All inconsistencies in policy guidelines between Federal and State agencies will be eliminated.”