Amidst unrelenting criticism of alleged poor political leadership at the highest level in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria, the presidency has listed “some of the reactions by the agencies and trained experts, under the leadership of President Buhari’ in the fight against the virus.
The presidency gave the chronicle in a statement on Wednesday by presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina.
President Buhari had come under strident criticism for his perceived laid back approach to fighting the pandemic, delaying any direct interaction with Nigerians on the critical public health crisis until Sunday when he finally made a broadcast.
Before then, though, he had formed a presidential task force headed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, which has been coordinating the activities of the federal ministries and agencies directly involved in combating the disease.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across Nigeria on Wednesday rose to 151 after 12 new cases were confirmed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
The 12 new cases were reported in three states, Osun, Edo and Ekiti, according to NDDC.
It said nine of the cases were confirmed in Osun, two in Edo and one in Ekiti State.
“As at 12:30 p.m 1st April, there are 151 confirmed cases of COVID19 reported in Nigeria. Nine have been discharged with two deaths,” the agency said in a tweet.
Below is the statement by the presidency.
STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE
COVID-19: WHAT PRESIDENT BUHARI HAS DONE, AND IS DOING, BY PRESIDENCY
In his broadcast to the nation on Sunday, March 29, 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari declared that “in Nigeria’s fight against COVID-19, there is no such thing as an overreaction or under-reaction. It is all about the right reaction by the right agencies and trained experts.”
Lest we forget, below is a chronicle of some of the reactions by the agencies and trained experts, under the leadership of President Buhari. All these are apart from the impressive job being done by some state governors.
· January 28, 2020, (one month before the first case of Corona Virus). Federal Government assured citizens of the country of its readiness to strengthen surveillance at five international airports in the country to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The government announced the airports as Enugu, Lagos, Rivers, Kano and the FCT.
· January 28: The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) also announced that it had already set up coronavirus group and was ready to activate its incident system if any case emerged in Nigeria.
· January 31: Following the developments on COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China and other countries worldwide, the Federal Government set up a Coronavirus Preparedness Group to mitigate the impact of the virus if it eventually spreads to the country. On the same day, the World Health Organization (WHO) listed Nigeria among other 13 African countries identified as high-risk for the spread of the virus.
· February 27: Nigeria reports its first Coronavirus case
· Early March: Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, announced that 60 persons who had contact with the index Italian patient were under isolation – 40 in Ogun State and 20 in Lagos State.
· March 9: President Buhari established a Presidential Task Force for the control of the virus in the country.
· March 17: Nigeria postponed the 20th National Sports Festival that was billed to hold in Benin City, Edo State from 22 March to 1 April.
· March 18: Presidential Task Force Press Briefing during which the Federal Government announced that travellers from 13 countries would no longer be allowed to enter Nigeria until the Coronavirus pandemic was over.
· Nigeria is restricting entry into the country for travellers from China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, United States, Norway, United Kingdom, Netherlands & Switzerland. These are countries with over 1,000 cases domestically.
· The government also stopped issuance of visas from the countries.
· The Federal Government also suspended the issuance of visa on arrival to travellers from the earlier named countries. All travellers returning from these countries prior to the restriction will be in supervised self-isolation, monitored by NCDC and Port Health Services.
· March 18: The Management of the National Youth Service Corps suspended the 2020 Batch A stream one 21 days orientation exercise indefinitely. The orientation exercise commenced on 10 March and was expected to end on 30 March, before it was suspended after just 8 days.
· March 18: Nigeria placed a travel ban on 13 countries with high cases of the virus namely: United States, United Kingdom, South Korea, Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, China, Spain, Netherlands, Norway, Japan and Iran.
· March 18: The Nigeria Football Federation suspended all football activities for four weeks.
· March 19: Nigerian President’s daughter in isolation after returning from Britain.
