Africa Press-Nigeria:
Dr Adebimpe Aderounmu, a development and policy researcher, on Thursday urged the Oyo State Government to ensure strict enforcement of the COVID-19 guidelines in order to halt community spread of the virus.
Aderounmu made the plea in Ibadan in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) while assessing the state’s approach to curtailing the spread of the pandemic.
He said: “The main issue is for the Oyo State Government to ensure compliance with WHO’s guidelines to reduce the risk of contracting the virus.
“The enforcement of compliance should have been more firm and stricter than what we have now as the state is relaxed.
“The system we belong to in Nigeria is where people do not go to the health facility until they are really down with sickness.
“Another reason people with the virus are not reporting themselves is that they are running away from stigmatisation.
“I want to advocate for a contextual approach to tackle this problem whereby people are randomly picked to come up with some policies so as to ascertain how many people are infected and increase enforcement in the state because enforcement is not really there in Oyo State.”
Acknowledging the challenge that COVID-19 had become, he said Oyo, being a nodal state that serves as entry point into Lagos, had increased susceptibility to the pandemic.
The expert also advised that the pandemic period be used to gather data that would help in policy formulation and implementation.
The data, he said, would be helpful in effective distribution of palliatives.
“Other categories of people who do not belong to the poorest of the poor are now being impoverished due to the effects of COVID-19 with the attendant lockdown.
“Many businesses are closed and those who have money in banks are finding it difficult to access it due to restriction in movement,” he said.
He further called for synergy between the state task force on the pandemic and traditional rulers, local government chairmen and community development associations to upscale COVID-19 tests in the state as well as provide palliatives.
Aderounmu also called on government to boost its advocacy in rural areas while engaging Non-Governmental Organisations to help combat the pandemic.
