TRADITIONAL ruler of Shasha Kingdom in Alimosho Local Government, Oba Nosiru Lawal Akanbi Ogunronbi shares his thought on government’s palliative efforts, even as he insists that our hospitals must be equipped towards post-Covid-19 days.
How have you been observing the lockdown?
I have been staying at home with my family; when you came, you saw that my gate was under lock and key. So, I have been observing it. I must however tell you that people are not satisfied, there’s no love. There’s no money and people are suffering. It is not because of God or Buhari that the federal government asked us to stay at home; it is to prevent the spread of COVID-19. You cannot come near me, if I know that you just came from abroad. Due to the situation in Nigeria, I think the government’s directives are okay and we should abide by them.
If you are asked to wash your hands, if not for COVID-19, it will be for cholera, diarrhoea or something else. If government says you should go out to the market on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, ten o’clock to two o’clock to buy foodstuff, they have their reasons. I take my family to the market and monitor them. I have observed that relief items are not being monitored. It is good intention that government wants to distribute palliatives, but how many people can they cater for in the federal, states and local governments? I have had to share the food given to me with my people. Governments don’t know the people; it is we the obas and baales that know the widows, the poor and needy among us, though we are not perfect. Twenty bags were brought to me but after distribution, I still had to give from my pocket.
How would you assess the Lagos State government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic?
The Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi is doing his best. That man is so busy that I wonder if his family members see him these days. Sometimes I wonder why people go abroad for medical treatment. When I met Professor Abayomi, he commended me for patronising the General Hospital. Who can travel abroad now? Why can’t we equip our hospitals and healthcare centres?
What’s your advice for your people at this time?
They should observe the stay at home order. They should be law abiding. What is happening is a test of power in which we are all suffering from but God has intervened. The youths should be law abiding. It is said that hunger does not kill, it is thirst that kills. If you go into fasting, by the time you break your fast, it is water you drink first before you eat. We should be prayerful.
To the government, I’d say, cater for the people by equipping our hospitals. Let all our leaders stay and patronise our hospitals. The doctors will be happy if our hospitals are in good condition. It will shock you to know that most of the hospitals abroad are headed by Nigerians.
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