FG to Nigerians: COVID-19 battle now in your hands

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The battle to contain the spread of coronavirus pandemic and stay alive is now an individual responsibility, which Nigerians must take seriously, the Federal Government said on Monday.

Nigerians, the government noted, have a choice to take responsibility by obeying the measures and guidelines developed to fight the pandemic or end up in any of the treatment centres for Covid -19 patients.

The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, said this on Monday.

Mustapha said that Nigerians are the ones that can work assiduously to ensure that the level of transmission of the virus is reduced.

He lamented that many Nigerians have refused to take personal responsibility following the easing of the lockdown by the federal government.

He said: “If you listen to me conscientiously in the past four weeks I have spoken about personal responsibility, that it is our responsibility. We are not your front liners anymore. The choice of whether you will get to the hospital is yours.

“You, my fellow people, you are your last liners now. What you do, what you say, your actions, will determine where you will end.

“We have gotten to a stage where no amount of enforcement will cut this tool for us. It is the choices that we make that will determine what will happen. The governments of subnational will try to do their best but it is the choices of the people that will determine how effective that will be.

“We are the only ones that can work assiduously to ensure that we reduce the level of transmission now that it has been ceded in our own communities.”

He reiterated that the virus was still deadly despite easing of the lockdown.

According to him, nobody should be deceived that Nigeria has reached the peak of the pandemic.

He said that Nigeria’s reported cases will continue to rise, adding that the rate will depend on what Nigerians do.

According to him, the decision to ease the lockdown was to balance lives and livelihoods.

Mustapha said: “Covid -19 is real and because restrictions have been lifted is not a license for carelessness. Yes we will return to a new normal but not the normal of the past.

“My appeal is that honestly where we are now, it is our individual no collective responsibility that will determine where we are headed. Are figures going to rise? Yes, they are. The quantum in which they rise is dependent on what we do.

“But as for the figures, we don’t want to delude anybody; they will rise. The quantum in with which they will rise exponentially or gradually, is dependent on what Nigerians do.

“If we decide to be careless because restrictions have been lifted, then we will have a peak be if we are not careful it can overwhelm even our health infrastructure.

“We know where we are now, we know that the responsibility has been shielded to individuals. Let’s not depend heavily on what the governments will do. Dr. Brian was very explicit in his statement that I quoted copiously.

“Basically, what I am saying today is that the battle has been transferred to each and everyone of us. What we do will determine the outcome of our response at the national level.”