President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria’s economy is too fragile for a fresh COVID-19 lockdown.
Buhari, therefore, urged Nigerians to obey all protocols recommended by health authorities to curtail the spread of the lethal coronavirus.
The President, who stated this on Thursday via his verified Twitter handle, said compliance with COVID-19 protocols by all Nigerians is crucial to overcome a second wave of the pandemic in the country.
“Looking at the trends in other countries, we must do all we can to overcome a second wave of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
“We must make sure that our cases, which have gone down, do not rise again. Our economy is too fragile to bear another round of lockdown,” @MBuhari tweeted.
It could be recalled that Mr. President had in March imposed a total lockdown on parts of the country including Lagos, Abuja, and Ogun which lasted for over five weeks and had a tremendous effect on the Nation’s economic activities with the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry putting the loss at about N3bn in the period under review.
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 had at its several briefings frowned on the disregard for COVID-19 protocol by Nigerians while warning against a second wave of the virus in the country.
The task force had also urged citizens to obey social distancing, use of face masks, and regular washing of hands, amongst others.
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, (NCDC) the country has recorded over 62,000 infections including over 1,100 fatalities.