By Our Correspondent
Mixed reactions have continued to trail the extension of the lockdown order put in place by the Delta State Government to contain the spread of the deadly Coronavirus disease by another 14 days.
Coordinator of the Niger Delta Peace Coalition (NPDC) Mr Zik Gbemre, who spoke to our correspondent on telephone commended the state government for the extension of the lockdown but expressed worry over the way and manner the government has neglected the needs of the people.
He said though the extension was for the good of all Deltans, the state government would ought to put palliatives in place to cushion the effect of the lockdown on the people.
He said, “The extension is a good one because it will help to further contain the spread of the dreaded COVID-19 as the state have witnessed some few cases. The only problem I have with this is that most people survive on what they sell daily. Now you have asked them to stay at home, how are they going to survive.
“The state government should open their food bank that they have been telling people about and begin to share food to the people. The poor people will die of hunger if nothing is done. You don’t expect someone who sells Garri on the streets daily to survive this lockdown.
“Okowa should make sure that he collects the bank accounts numbers of Deltans using their Bank Verification Numners (BVN) to authenticate the account numbers and send money to them. This way he can get to the very poor in the country.”
Mr Igho Love, who has a gas supply outlet in Warri told our correspondent that he was happy with the lockdown because it will help to ensure that the coronavirus pandemic does not spread like wild fire.
“I am very happy with what Govenor Ifeanyi Okowa has done by extending this lockdown because from what we have been seeing around the world Nigeria does not have the capacity to tackle this pandemic if it escalates,” Mr Love said.
Mr Sylvester Odion, a roadside mechanic said the extension of the lockdown is like a death sentence, explaining that the first two had brought untold hardship to people who don’t have money to take care of themselves.
“In other countries where they have imposed lockdown on their people, their governments have been paying their citizens so that they can take care of themselves. But in Nigeria here, you are telling people to stay at home without any palliatives. Do they want us to die of hunger,” Odion queried.
Another respondent who gave his name as Mr Jude Omovigho said, “My brother I think what the state Govenor did is for the good of everyone. We all know how serious this COVID-19 is and you and I know that we don’t have the capacity to deal with it if it spread. So to me though I don’t have money to take care of my family during this extension, I believe we will survive it.”
