By Olamide Francis
On the 17th of December 2020, the Federal Government of Nigeria officially announced that the country has officially entered the second wave of the novel coronavirus. The infectious disease which emanated from Wuhan, China, has claimed over one million lives with more than fifty-eight million recovering from the illness.
Nature News took to the streets of Lagos to listen to the voice of Nigerians and what they think about the resurgence of a second wave.
Mildred, a resident of Ogba in Lagos, thinks the alarm for a second wave has a political undertone and that Nigeria has conquered the disease.
“I see no reason for all the fuss about the second wave of Covid-19. It might be in other places but not in Nigeria. They should let us live our life peacefully,” she said.
“After all that we passed through in the first phase. No food. No palliative. No help from the government. Now, they want to lock us in again. I don’t believe in all these scam. They just want to make another money,” John, an Okada rider in Berger added.
A middle aged man residing at the Lagos-Ogun border, Julius, had a contrary opinion. “People must listen to whatever the government is saying. We must not be a victim of ignorance. Many in Nigeria have died from this disease and the second wave looks more intense than the first” he opined.
Dr. Olusegun Oguntoke, an associate professor at the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, thinks movement is a major carriers of the infection. He, therefore, urged people to restrict their movement and commute only when it is of uttermost importance.
Read also: FG Blames States for Low Testing – Covid-19
Oguntoke claims is in correlation with that of the Lagos State commissioner for health, Prof. Akin Abayomi: “COVID-19 positivity for inbound travelers coming into Lagos is on the rise with an increase of 8% this week alone and 4% cumulatively.
“Passengers must also, prior to boarding, fill in an online Health Declaration/Self-Reporting form located on the Nigeria International Travel Portal which must be submitted online or printed for presentation on arrival in Nigeria.”
Nature News also examined the consistency with which citizens are compliant with social distance and the use of face mask.
Omotayo, a resident of Agege, thinks it is impossible to keep to the social distance rule, adding that only the use of facemask might work.
“There is no way we can keep the social distance rule at places with crowd. Let’s stop deceiving ourselves. We can manage to use facemask but there’s no way our body will not touch each other.”
Ajoke, a student residing in Ikeja, said Lagos and the country should brace up for another lockdown while adding that the government must intervene in the situation.
Meanwhile, the government has banned crossover and night services in religious institutions across the country as part of the emergency measure to halt the outbreak of the second wave of the pandemic.
