Sequel to the spate of Coronavirus (COVID -19) ravaging the globe, people have been advised to adhere strictly to the safety measures both the medical practitioners and governments recommended to curtail the spread of the dreadful scourge.
Some of the recommendations include frequent hand washing, application of sanitizers, social distancing and adherence to personal hygiene.
In keeping faith with measures to contain the transmission of the deadly virus, governments at the centre and states were forced to impose total lockdown of activities, thus banning large congregations and restricting vehicular movements except those on essential services.
In Kwara State for instance, the state government announced full scale lockdown in view of the increase in number of people infected by the disease. The statistical analysis from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) showed that Kwara has nine confirmed cases of coronavirus with two patients discharged.
The development also compelled the state government to order civil servants in the state to henceforth work from home while schools, worship centres and markets were also shutdown indefinitely.
And ever since the stringent decision was taken, there has been lull in the activities. The impact of the gloabal pandemic on the economy has been a tale of woes with palpable reduction in revenue due to the state.
The untoward development notwithstanding, the state government flagged off distribution of palliatives, including food stuff to residents in the bid to cushion the adverse effects of the lockdown on them.
Some private business owners and nongovernmental organizations have also extended support to the government as part of their corporate social responsibility.
One of the business organizations that donated to the state government is Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC).
Musbau Ajisafe, Regional Head of IBEDC, led a team to present the company’s donation to the Kwara State government in Ilorin, the state capital.
While handing over the palliatives, the electricity company chief urged residents of the state to adhere strictly to the measures put in place to curb the spread of the virus.
He said the people would remain healthy and safe from contracting the virus if people abide by the government’s directive, adding that the dreaded disease claiming many lives requires collective responsibility to ward it off in the society.
Ajisafe applauded the proactive measures the Federal Government, States’ Governors and lieutenants have put in place in the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic.
“As part of its corporate social responsibility and contributions towards mitigating the health hazards and hardships caused by the global pandemic COVID-19, IBEDC earmarked about Hundred Million Naira(N100,000,000) for the donation of relief items as part of our CSR support to the states we operate in – as we cover fully Ogun, Oyo, Osun and Kwara States and partly Niger, Kogi and Ekiti.
“We are also supporting one of the major medical facilities within our franchise, which has been designated as an apex care giver in the COVID-19 battle- the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan with a donation of Five Million Naira(N5,000,000) for the purchase of critical medical supplies needed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic”, he added.
This, according to him, is being done to support the various government initiatives and help reduce the hardship the lockdown occasioned on the citizens.
Food items such as 2,500 bags of 5kg rice, 1,500 cartoons of noodles and 3,000 of 1kg of semovita were donated by the company to support the Kwara State government palliatives for the poor during the lockdown.
Kayode Alabi, the state Deputy Governor and Chairman of Technical Committee on COVID-19, who received the items, appreciated the management of IBEDC for the kind gesture, saying that it would go a long way to assist the needy.
SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin
