Covid-19: Ohikere Okays Bello's Strides, Says NCDC Should Be Objective



By Otobong Gabriel, Abuja



Following the recent comments by the Director-General of the National Centre for Disease Control, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, that states which are yet to record cases of COVID-19 are either negligent in testing and tracing or actively hiding the disease within their territories, Tom Ohikere, a former Commissioner of Information of Kogi said NCDC Should be objective rather than making claims that will demoralise the efforts of state governors who remains resolute in ensuring that the virus does not enter their states.



Ohikere said Kogi State had religiously followed all the NCDC and World Health Organisation (WHO) COVID-19 advisories, both for identifying cases and preventing spread.



The state have also adhered strictly to the various guidelines from, and directives of, the federal government, customised to improve both efficiency and efficacy within the peculiarities of our own circumstances.

And this has worked for us so far in keeping our state COVID-19-free, we do find it disconcerting that the lead agency in the fight is possibly expressing doubt in their efficacy while simultaneously denouncing states that do not record cases for following her own guidelines.



NCDC should be optimistic and support states making vigorous efforts to prevent and to contain the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus and not to proud itself on number of recorded cases to fault state that do not have any recorded case.



As of today, the governor still insist that Kogi state has no confirmed case of COVID-19 or any case to the knowledge of the vigilant medical structures across the state which matches the suspected or high-risk factors for it. If the situation changes at this very moment they will not hesitate for a second before alerting the NCDC.



In fact, the state is one of the first to build a self-assessment app hosted at kogicovid19.gov.ng around the NCDC’s checklist for ‘suspected and high risk’ cases and as at last week it has been visited nearly 200,000 times with over 14,000 completed self-assessments out of which only about 60 presented cause for further investigation which then failed to meet the COVID-19 spectrum.”



And based on the giant strides the governor has made in the fight against the deadly Covid-19 virus, since it crept into the country in February, one should expect encouragement and commendation from NCDC for the state's efforts to contain the outbreak of the pandemic, rather than derogatory statements.



The governor of Kogi State does not believe that increasing the burden on the overwhelmed NCDC and the other agencies cum resources labouring in the frontlines of our response to this deadly pandemic, when neither case nor cause for such has genuinely risen in the state, is helping the country in any way.