By Tony Nzekwe
The Governors of the 36 states of the federation has on April 22, 2020 ” unanimously” agreed to inter- state lockdown in the country over the next two weeks aimed to contain the spread of COVID 19 Virus from state to state.
The Governors under the auspices of the Nigerian Governors Forum ( NGF) reached the agreement after briefing from the Governors of Lagos, Bauchi, Oyo and Ogun States who shared their experiences and lessons from the fight against COVID 19.
The Communique issued at the end of the sixth COVID 19 teleconference meeting reads in Part: ” All states Governors called for the decentralization of the COVID 19 response as the best chance of nipping the spread of the virus in community.”
Adding, ” Members of the NGF also voiced serious concern over the rising spread of the virus .’among health workers and resolved to work with the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) to ensure that health workers are adequately provided with personal protective equipment and are constantly trained on the use of protective gears,”
The Governors also resolved, to set up COVID 19 committees at the regional level, headed by their state commissioners of health in order to strengthen coordinated implementation of necessary public health recommendation across states.
The communique added, ” Governors will continue to interface with the state task force committees on COVID 19 already established in each state.”
The Chairman of the Forum, Dr.Kayode Fayemi, Governor of Ekiti State, briefed the forum on the rapidly evolving situation of the COVID 19 pandemic and government, multilateral and bilateral partners and the Private Sector through the Coalition against COVID 19(CACOVID).
The forum also observed a minute silence in honour of all Nigerians who lost their lives from corona virus, especially health workers who were in the front lines of the pandemic.
