The stay -at -home directive from the Federal Government to civil servants , which is meant to mitigate the adverse effects of the ravaging COVID - 19 pandemic is just timely and reasonable . The Federal and various state governments have closed down institutions , schools , and offices as a preventive measure to curtail the spread of the deadly virus. Hence , parents , children , and family members are compelled to stay at home for a month or thereabout to encourage social distancing .
Staying at home has a burden . There is a need to solve another serious challenge at hand . For schoolchildren, staying at home means less academic work and more time for pleasure and extra- curricular activities. This may eventually affect their academic work by the time schools resume . As planned by several public schools , the deployment of online teaching facilities would help to keep teachers and their pupils busy .
Ordinarily , when people are busy working , they think less of food , even though they still find the time to fill their stomachs. But staying at home and doing far less work tends to make them eat more . Normally , people would have to spend more money to keep body and soul together . Not to defeat the essence of staying at home, governments at all levels should pay workers ’ salaries without delay . They should not wait till the end of the month before doing so because of the peculiarity of this period. This would enable them to purchase basic needs , otherwise staying home and doing nothing could be counter - productive. Employers of labour in the private sector should also endeavour to pay the outstanding salaries as many workers employees are being owed several months ’ unpaid salaries .
Apart from food and other consumables , many homes hardly enjoy power supply . Many Nigerians often resort to alternative sources of power , such as the use of generators , inverters , and solar . Aside from this , they require power to pump water , watch television , charge mobile telephones and to operate other electronic devices . They also need to monitor the news in the media and get updated on developments on the COVID - 19 pandemic.
To make life bearable for the people , the authorities should ensure that there is at least uninterrupted supply of electricity for a certain period daily . Regulatory agencies should ensure that artificial scarcity of petroleum products is prevented otherwise the suffering of the people will become unbearable . This is because unscrupulous persons are used to hiding under emergencies to exploit their fellow citizens by hoarding petroleum products and sell at cut -throat prices . Nigerians spend a huge amount of money on fuel , diesel , kerosene and gas. It is disheartening to note that despite the reduction in the pump price of petrol from N145 to N 125 , many petrol filling stations have either refused to adjust to the new price regime or have complied , but the volume of fuel being dispensed is not commensurate with the correct pricing .
Government ministries , departments and agencies in charge of public health and safety should not go to sleep simply because the people have been sent home. They should continue to put in place , sufficient , realistic, and sustainable programmes of action to end the scourge , which could be a time bomb waiting to explode, if not well- managed . This should not be allowed to happen . The confinement should enable the relevant authorities to holistically address what has become a global problem .
Public officials should stop playing politics with questionable statistics that they churn out to the people to give the impression that a lot of work is being done ; that casualty is abysmally low , and that adequate equipment are on ground to curtail the viral spread . Honesty and openness is what is required at this period and not deceit , false claims and propaganda that will help no one.
Law enforcement agents should ensure that they keep a tab on peoples ’ movements, bearing in mind that some people are just restless and can barely stay indoors . Appropriate punishment should be meted out to violators . As additional measures are to be unfolded , the government should be realistic in what is communicated to the people to ensure smooth compliance .
In the next few days , there is the likelihood that many people will switch- over to social media to keep themselves busy . This should expectedly increase activity on the new media . Avoid posting and reposting fake , unverified and misleading information that may likely cause more harm to society. Most of the information disseminated in social media appears to be incorrect . A potent way of ending the spread of falsehood is not to re - share anything without verification or authentication .
We should be our brother’s keeper by being more responsive , observant and caring . We should cooperate with health officials by sticking to approved guidelines and instructions . Reporting any suspected cases of coronavirus to designated offices , telephone numbers and social media contacts would go a long way in reducing the spread of the disease . Parents and guardians should monitor their children and wards more closely because of the tendency to engage in illegal and immoral acts . Apart from the idleness that would be experienced by these young chaps, the urge to wanting to try new things and misbehave cannot be ruled out . Scrutiny and spontaneous checks on their activities should be taken seriously at this moment.
On a positive note , rather than see the confinement in a negative light, it should serve as a good opportunity for family members to stay closer more than before, discuss and sort out issues . This period should spur people to take well -deserved rest , read , write , reflect deeply , be creative and observe penance , especially the faithful that are currently observing the Lenten season , to pray for quick end to coronavirus , pray for Nigeria in distress , and also pray against bribery and corruption in Nigeria . The reason for this is simple . We badly need divine intervention to solve the myriads problems facing the nation and humanity in general , irrespective of religion , ethnicity, tribe and race . It is hoped that the sit- at- home order would soon be over . This optimism can only translate into reality when we all do the needful . COVID - 19 would certainly come and go.

Yes first to comment