Wole Soyinka, playwright and Nobel laureate, has slammed the federal government and the religious leaders over the coronavirus outbreak in Nigeria.
Soyinka said the government should have taken measures that would have helped deal with the disease such as enough isolation centres, well-stocked pharmacies and research centres.
According to him, “They have been treated with kid gloves for too long… I think there is too much political correctness going on.
“What the government should do in such instances is to take note of these contraveners of common sense and ensure that they are punished after this crisis is over or at some point or the other.
“We have to take on churches and mosques, religions of any kind including traditional religions that misbehave and let them understand that they are living in very different times than that of their imagination.”
Earlier, The Herald reported that the Federal Government has directed public servants on levels 1 – 12 to work from home until further notice.
Head of Service of the Federation, Folashade Yemi-Esan disclosed this in a memo on Monday, saying it was a measure to curb the spread of coronavirus.
She said the directive takes effect from Tuesday, March 24. However, she said those offering essential services are exempted from the work-from-home directive. Also, the HoS urged the public servants that will remain at work to reduce the number of visitors they will receive.
According to her, “As you are no doubt aware, the Federal Government has taken a number of measures to manage the identified cases of COVID – 1 9 and curtail its spread.
“Government is concerned about the welfare and safety of all public servants just as it is about other Nigerians. All public servants are, therefore, strongly advised to follow the measures being put in place by government to curtail the spread of the pandemic.”