Federal Government’s decision to ease the lockdown imposed on the people to check the spread of the novel Coronavirus was a difficult one, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN), Thompson Okpoko, has said.
Okpoko, who is also the Principal Partner and Co-founder of Thompson Okpoko & Partners, said this in Warri in a telephone conversation with BusinessDay.
He said government needed to strike a balance between the need to remove the restriction so that people can get what they can eat and the need to restrict and prevent further spread of the virus.
According to Okpoko, “the position of things is that the government is put in a difficult situation. Business people are saying that they are dying because there is no business for them to do. The casual workers working along the road can no longer come out to work because of the restriction of movement and so their means of livelihood has been taken away from them.
So what plans has the government put in place for this class of people in terms of palliatives?
“On the other side of the scale is the need to protect public health of everyone. Can the government shut its eye to what can be a very dangerous spread of this Coronavirus?
“This is the difficulty that the government is faced with. As this burden is placed on the government, it is for them to fashion a way out.
“Look at the vulcanizer, the mechanic by the side of the road, look at a lawyer who has to go to court, especially the junior ones, if the curfew is kept longer than this without any form of relaxation, these people will die because the price of food has escalated for no reason. Let the government do as much as they can and let the people do as much as they can to remain safe.”
Okpoko, however said he is worried about what measures the government had put in place for containing an eventual sudden burst of the virus.
“Over and above all these, have we gotten our test machines ready? Have we gotten our isolation centres ready. Are we sure that anybody can walk into any hospital in one place and be referred to any particular hospital and he receives treatment. The government is trying to juggle between the devil and the deep blue sea,” Okpoko said.
While encouraging all to abide by the precautionary measures put in place to protect people from contracting the dreaded COVID-19, Okpoko also advised Nigerians to cut down on their food intake so as to survive the coming days which he said, might be difficult.
Francis Sadhere, Warri
