Bimbo Daramola, former member of House of Representatives, has advised the Federal Government to ensure that the extension of lockdown by 14 days is effective by taking the fight against the pandemic to the local communities.
He stressed that it would be a deception for government to believe that community residents who come down with symptoms would call them on phone to report.
Daramola said a local dweller battling with how to meet daily needs would not have resources and time to begin to call the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to report symptoms.
He stressed that well-meaning Nigerians had contributed resources to contain spread of the disease, government should work out strategy to put the resources in use.
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“No community resident would call NCDC to report symptoms when he or she is thinking of where the next meal would come from.
“Palliatives must get to Nigerians who actually need them. Ministry of humanitarian services should work with the 774 local government Areas across the country, convene engagements to bring the people who should make palliatives get to the right people.
“Politicians know how to get votes from wards and local governments areas during elections, they should deploy the same measure to extend palliatives to the grassroots and not just interface with them during elections,” he said.
The former lawmaker, in a local media on Tuesday, maintained that community transmission must be checked during the 14 days extension if it would achieve desired result, pointing out that the narrative that COVID-19 was for the rich people must change.
He said that since the wealthy in the country had pooled resources to fight the pandemic, rapid response must be deployed by government at all levels to contain the spread.
