Members of the Professional Artisans of Nigeria, Kwara State chapter, have appealed to the state government to come to their aid and provide them with palliatives to cushion the effects of the ongoing lockdown.
Joseph Olu-Akintayo, president of the union stated this on Monday in an interview with journalists in Ilorin, the state capital.
The members of group include carpenters, goldsmiths, tailors, and others who depend on daily incomes for their livelihood.
Olu-Akintayo said members of the group have been encountering economic loses since the commencement of the month-long lockdown by the State Government, following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to him, over 10, 000 members of the union in all the 16 Local Government Areas of the state are unabe to meet economic obligations in their various homes as a result of the development.
Olu-Akintayo explained that several members of the professional body which comprise of 39 unions are currently wallowing in abject poverty since the beginning of the lockdown a month ago.
“We are recording economic loses on a daily basis as some of us can no more live up to expectations in our respective homes, since the lock down began.
“l normally receive not less than 25 telephone calls from my members on daily basis soliciting assistance to feed families,” Olu-Akintayo said.
The artisan boss lamented that members of the union are appealing to the state government to provide succour for them to alleviate their sufferings since the lockdown has been extended for another fortnight.
The state governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, recently announced the extension of the lockdown of the state by another 14 days to flatten the curve of transmission of the virus, saying “this is in accordance with the position of the Federal Government and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum.
Kwara State has so far recorded 11 cases of Coronavirus infection.
