Razaq Bamidele
An Ogun State born entrepreneur, Otunba Adejare Adegbenro has said that, there is the need for urgent introduction of a new testing device for early detection and treatment of Coronavirus.
Adegbenro in a chat with newsmen in Lagos said the call was necessary since Coronavirus is real as a pandemic, frightening and highly contagious disease with high rate of fatality.
Adegbenro, who is the first Otunba Laje of Owu Kingdom observed that the only measure introduced by the government to fight it now like social distancing cannot solve the problem properly,.
He wondered how long could Nigerians sustain social distancing and staying indoors amidst hunger and poverty!
“To the best of my knowledge, the smartest way to fight the virus for now is by introducing a testing device that would enable everyone get tested within 10 minutes and thereby give an instant results with issuance of a clearance card to show his/her status which would allow the person go about his/her normal life in no time,” the concerned businessman admonished.
In addition, the widely travelled business man therefore urged the Nigerian government to also provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), massively, starting from the states where NCDC, Government Isolation Centers (GIC), Medical and Local Health Centres, Local Government, Multi-national Companies are located, including a good number of prominent private hospitals in various states of the federation.
He observed that the major concern of the social distancing is that the longer people continue staying at home, the more the hunger and the more the social vices will also be on the increase.
He further advised all the tiers of the government to do more as a matter of urgency, to make additional provision of food and cash incentives to the less privileged in the society.
Adegbenro therefore appealed to Nigerians in the private sector to assist the Federal and state governments by providing food, money and other palliatives for the less privileged, lamenting that the sit at home order is affecting a lot of people.
While expressing concern that the federal government is not doing enough on the issue, the first Ogbenioja of Ewekoro, Owu Kingdom however, praised the Lagos State Government for being proactive in dealing with the dreaded disease than other states including the federal government.
“Nevertheless, because of the huge population of Lagos, Ogun and Abuja, a lot more still needs to be done. Both the federal and state governments should extend the timeline for social distancing, they should extensively increase the testing of possible victims of COVID-19. And they should also provide more PPEs for Frontline medical workers, as a matter of urgency.
“They should also engage religious leaders, traditional rulers, labour unionists, educational institutions as well as leaders and members of the entertainment industry (including Nollywood), amongst others, in the war against COVID-19.
“The use of the media channels (social media and blogs), to educate and encourage the masses more about what the Government is doing to mitigate the effects of the lockdown is also required.
