As Northern State Governors expressed worry that the total lockdown over COVID-19 would affect agricultural production in the region, elders from the region have alleged that the governors were just shopping for excuses.
Similarly, the Arewa Consultative Forum( ACF),said lockdown might not affect farming as majority of farmers were in the rural areas were peasants could enjoy some level of flexibility in their movements.
While the Northern Youth Groups accused the governors of complacency and lack of cohesion in their approach towards curbing the spread of COVID-19, the immediate past Secretary General of the Arewa Consultative Forum,ACF, Mr. Anthony Sani warned that attempts to negate laid down rules on lockdown may spoil previous efforts put in place by the governors in containing the spread of coronavirus.
The Northern Governors had in a meeting on Tuesday, “agreed that at the moment, each State would adopt the measure suitable to its setting because total lockdown of the region will come at a very high cost since most of our citizens are farmers who need to go to farms since the rains have started,” they said.
The governors announced that Governor Bagudu of Kebbi state would chair a 7-man committee set up by their Forum.
This was contained in a Press Statement signed by Dr. Makut Simon Macham, Director, Press and Public Affairs to the Governor of Plateau State and Chairman, Northern States Governors Forum.
The statement indicated that the Northern State Governors” Forum (NGF) under the leadership of Plateau State Governor, Simon Bako Lalong had met on Monday 13th April,2020 to discuss the Impact of Covid 19 on the economies of the various states in the region.
“Among the decisions taken at the meeting was the setting up of a 7 – Man Committee chaired by Governor of Kebbi State Atiku Abubakar Bagudu to fashion out the way forward. Other members are Governors of Kaduna, Sokoto, Kwara, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Gombe and Nasarawa State.”
“The committee among other issues would look at the economic impact of Covid-19 on the region and take a wholistic look at the economic prospects of the region with a view to repositioning it for less reliance on Federal Allocation and to prepare for the future by diversifying to areas of comparative advantage such as agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and human capital development.”
“The meeting which was conducted via teleconference and Chaired by the Forum’s Chairman, Governor Simon Bako Lalong of Plateau State also discussed the various measures put in place to curtail the spread of Corona Virus and how the Pendemic has affected their people as well as experience sharing on measures adopted by individual States to curb the spread of the virus.”
“After receiving reports from various States, the Forum resolved to strengthen preventive measures against the pandemic through enhanced border controls and surveillance as well as greater collaboration to ensure that there is synergy among them in movement restriction.”
“They observed that so far, the lockdown measure in some States in the region has had varying levels of success, but also raised concerns that enforcing cross-border movements remains a challenge as some of the cases recorded in some States were imported from outside despite the closure of borders by States.”
“The governors agreed that at the moment, each State would adopt the measure suitable to its setting because total lockdown of the region will come at a very high cost since most of its citizens are farmers who need to go to farms since the rains have started.”
“The Northern Governors also commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the measures taken so far to deal with the pandemic and promised to do their part in working with the Federal Government to contain the disease.”
While reacting on the stand taken by the Northern Governors, Mr.Anthony N Z Sani ,immediate past Secretary General of ACF,said the governors needed to know that total lockdown was a painful choice no one had envisaged.
His words:
“When I read reports that Northern states Governors are raising alarm that total lock down is detrimental to the region, I could not make out such wisdom in the sense that total lock down is a painful choice needed to curb the spread of the covid-19 from coronavirus.This is because covid19 is not a joke but a matter of life and death.Nobody wants to go to hospital or be quarantine unless he has to.
Lock down causes pains which are associated with restrictions,social distancing and disruption of livelihoods.
Those who have embarked on total lock down like India,Italy and France have done so after balancing the pull of saving lives against the imperative of preserving livelihoods.Catch-22 one might say.”
“Because unless every state is free, nobody is free,and given the prevalent interstate travels,one had thought all the states should be on the same page by way of lock down at the same time for the same duration, say,14 days,lest separate approaches by individual states become wasted efforts.That would give time for the covid-19 to manifest and make for informed strategy of containment and mitigation.
Furthermore,it is better to embark on total lock down in the North before the rains and farming seasons set in.It will be cheaper and less problematic than during farming seasons.
Total lock down is imperative precisely because the alternative is to overwhelm the public health facilities amid burying of unimagined number of deaths for only God knows when it will stop.”NEF said Northern Governors are looking for excuses.
” Spokesperson of Northern Elders Forum( NEF),,Dr.Hakeem Baba Ahmed,said the governors were looking for excuses.
According to him, “yes total lockdown will affect farming only if we keep approaching safety and protection measures the way we are doing.First, lockdowns are not intended to last forever.Their purposes is to limit community spread and, identification,isolation and treatment of infected persons.Our governors arr not using the powers and the resources availble to ensure effective lockdown,so they are looking for excuses.”
“There is enough time for effective lockdown before commencement of planting in most parts of the North.But we are losing precious time with weak political will and failures to support lockdowns with the resources they need.In three weeks time it may be more difficult to both contol the pandemic and avoid food insecurity.Remember,the North alteady has vast tracks of abandoned farmlands as a result of insecurity.”
“We Don’t Entertain the Governors’ Fear at All’ -ACF
-says lockdown is in the towns,rural farmers can go to farm
According to the Arewa Consultative Forum( ACF),Nigerians should be careful not to allow COVID-19 runs riot.
National Publicty Secretary of the ACF,Mr.Emmanuel Yawe,however told our correspondent that lockdown was most effective in the urban areas.
According to him, “our position is that ,the adverse effect of COVID-19,if it is allowed to run riot,will far outweigh whatever the government is doing. In any case,most of the farming in Northern Nigeria,is done in the rural area.This lockdown is mostly in the urban areas..we don’t see how if you lockdown the urban areas ,activities in the rural areas will be affected .We don’t entertain that fear at all.
“Covid-19: Northern Youth Groups Flay N/Govs Stand
Convener of Joint Association of Northern Youth Groups,Murtala Abubakar, has accused the Northern Governors Forum of being complacent over the spread of COVID-19 in the region.
According to him,”prior to now, it was a blame game between some of them.”
” There was no unity of purpose ,one state was even accusing its neighbors of undermining efforts by not enforcing strict measures on citizens to restrict movement.”
“We view the stand of the northern governors forum on ways to convert the spread of the covid-19 in the region with mixed feelings.”
“We are shocked to learned that up to today, no single testing centre of coronavirus is established throughout the region. The questions begging for answer is how did the governors hope to convert the spread of the virus without knowing the exact figures of those who tested positive?”
“Equally, the claim by the governors that they cannot enforce total lockdown due to the fact that majority of our population are local farmers and that we are now in the rainy season is true. But they should know that the state of backwardness in the agricultural sector up North, was because of their not paying attention to modernize agriculture that would enable our farmers to farm all year round through irrigation.”
“If that was done, they wouldn’t have cried now that COVID-19 has coincided with the rainy season in Northern Nigeria .”
“We are convinced that most of the governors are not serious about converting the spread of covid -19, rather they are more interested in the money they are hoping to get from the federal government in the name of fighting against covid – 19 ,” he said.