(3 minutes read)
· Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari announced a gradual
lifting of lockdown from 4 May
· Nigeria as of Monday (27th April) had 1,300 officially
reported cases of coronavirus infection and 40 deaths.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari announced a gradual lifting of
lockdown from 4 May. But the night curfew and the wearing of masks
will continue as usual. The plan is to close the inter-state borders,
except for necessities and social distancing will be a norm even
after the lifting of lockdown.
However, these measures will not be applied to Kano, which in recent
days, has witnessed a spurt in the case of virus infection. A number
of deaths were attributed to mysterious reasons and autopsies are
conducted to find the exact reasons for the death. The containment
measures in three states – Lagos, Abuja and Ogun – and applied in
several other states by the governors, have led to severe social
tensions in Nigeria. Majority of the people affected are the
population, who depend on the informal economy for survival. The poor
people in Nigeria, like in other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, warn
against containment measures telling them that they are affecting
their livelihood.
Nigeria as of Monday (27th April) had 1,300 officially reported cases
of coronavirus infection and 40 deaths. But many are not willing to
buy the numbers and insist on doing more tests to identify the
infected people. Nigeria has a population of 200 million and the
tests, according to some sources, were done only on an insignificant
number of people.
A good number of workers at construction sites, including at the
refinery built by Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, revolted
against the containment measures in Lagos, the economic capital of
Nigeria. They want to return to work.
While police had arrested 51 rioters, the latter had inflicted injury
to five policemen and vandalized two nearby police stations. The
inhabitants of Lagos numbering over 20 million have been ordered to
stay at home since 30 March for containing the pandemic. But the
lockout is extremely painful for the majority of the population, who
are daily wage earners.
