Lockdown without food kills faster than COVID-19, Erelu Oodua tells Buhari

May 2, 2020

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Asks government to reach out to every family via BVN

Says only a country with functional systems can afford a total lockdown

The chieftaincy title holder of Erelu Oodua and Irawo Oni of Yoruba, Tinuade Mabel Onaneye, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari led administration to assist Nigerians by giving them money via Bank Verification Number (BVN) to cushion the effect of the hardship caused by the total lockdown imposed on the people to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria.

In a release sent to Starnews NG via email from Texas, the United States of America, Erelu on Saturday, told President Muhammadu Buhari that Nigeria cannot effect a total lockdown because it does not have a functional systems like the developed countries.

Erelu said that the United States and many other countries that enforced a total lockdown to battle the pandemic actually put adequate measures in place to lessen the sufferings of their citizens, Starnews NG can report.

Her words:

“There is no justification for delaying the stipends meant for Nigerians in this difficult time.

“As effective as lockdown might be in curbing the spread of the ravaging coronavirus, government must be ready to actively play her own roles to make it work.”

“Asking a family that can hardly afford daily meals despite their daily hustles to stay indoors till only God knows when, can be very disastrous. Lockdown without food kills faster than COVID-19 itself.”

“Many Nigerians especially, women and children have been catapulted into with the additional costs burden caused by the lockdown as prices of food items have continued to rise almost on daily basis and people now spend so much to buy less.”

“Only a country with functional systems can afford a total lockdown.”

“In the United States and many countries battling the pandemic and enforcing lockdown, their governments put adequate measures in place to lessen their sufferings and Nigeria’s case shouldn’t be an exception,”

“It would be easy to reach every house, saying, “no matter how poor a family might be, at least one person will have a bank account with BVN through which they can be reached.” Erelu told President Buhari in the statement.