The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo SAN, has advised against another COVID-19-induced total lockdown of the country.
He gave the advice on Sunday after the Federal and Lagos State governments warned that another total lockdown could be imposed if residents continued to flout safety directives.
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari imposed a total lockdown on Lagos, Ogun and FCT from March 30 to May 4 to curb the spread of the deadly virus. Many state governments emulated the president’s move.
However, since the gradual easing of the total lockdown commenced on Monday, many Nigerians have been seen flouting directives on social distancing and use of face masks.
Piqued by this, Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu on May 4 warned of another total lockdown if the trend persisted.
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu issued a similar warning on Saturday.
But in his tweet, Keyamo said imposing another lockdown may not be the right course of action.
He said Nigerians needed to practise and get used to the skills needed to prevent contracting the virus.
Keyamo wrote, “My personal view is that another total lockdown would be counterproductive. Before defeating the virus, we must learn to live with it all around us & practice the skills of avoiding it like a landmine. Practice makes perfect. We cannot perfect those skills by locking ourselves up.”