• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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BusinessDay

Coronavirus: First Lady calls for total shutdown 

Aisha Buhar

Against the backdrop of currently spread of the global Coronavirus pandemic,  First Lady, Aisha Buhari has called for complete lockdown even as she warned against allowing workers to continue to report for work.

She also kicked against stopping children from going to school over the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, while exposing their parents to dangers.

The warning is coming on the heels of a decision by Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed to go into self-isolation, following his reported contact with the son of former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who is reported to have tested positive to the dreaded virus.

Governor Mohammed was at the National Economic Council meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo last week Thursday, where he interacted with the Vice President, Governors and other state House staff.

There is anxiety at the seat of power, as Vice President Osinbajo on Monday, cancelled his assignments to commission ” Traffic Radio” in Abuja.

BusinessDay checks show that although the Vice President was in the office on Monday, his appointments were cancelled.

As at the time of filing in this report, Nigeria already has 35 confirmed cases with on death, while two were negative.

Aisha Buhari’s tweet is coming as the disease has been spreading fast since last Friday with many returning from Europe being the major Carriers of the disease.

Aisha Buhari said it would make no sense to isolate the children only to expose their parents to the disease.

In a tweet on Monday on her verified twitter handle, @aishambuhari, the first lady commended the move to close down schools as a way to control the outbreak of the virus.

“It is commendable that state governors have closed down schools; however, this could be counterproductive if parents are still going to work. We should not isolate students and expose their parents.

Let us remember that they will meet at home,” she tweeted with the hashtags, #TotalLockDown, #StayAtHome.

The First Lady had last week, announced that one of her daughters had self-isolated having returned from the United Kingdom even though, according to her,  the daughter had not displayed any symptoms of the Coronavirus. 

She also tweeted that, on her part, she had ordered the shutdown of her office at the presidential villa, Abuja, for two weeks.

Mrs Buhari has also sympathized with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who announced on Sunday night that one of his sons had tested positive for COVID-19.

She expressed her deep sense of concern and prayers for his quick recovery.

“Your Excellency, It’s with a deep sense of concern that I extend my sincere prayers towards the quick recovery of your dear son. Allah renu en Amin,” she said in a tweet in response to Atiku’s announcement.

The former Vice President had tweeted: “My son has tested positive to coronavirus. @NCDCGov has been duly informed, and he has been moved to Gwagwalada Specialist Teaching Hospital in Abuja for treatment and management. I will appreciate it if you have him in your prayers. Stay safe, coronavirus is real. -AA.”

 

Tony Ailemen, Abuja