By Naomi Agha
Some civil society organisations have urged the government to consider providing financial support to traders and cooperatives to boost their businesses when the lockdown is lifted.
They appealed to the Lagos State government to extend the COVID-19 testing and advocacy to low-income communities and to revamp the palliative distribution mechanisms to reach the needy.
The NGOs stated this in a statement by Mr Gbenga Komolafe (Secretary-General of Federation of Informal Workers of Nigeria (FIWON), Chief Raymond Gold (Coordinator, Housing and Community Upgrade, Nigerian Slum/Informal Settlement Federation), Dr Taibat Lawawson (Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development, University of Lagos), and Deji Akinpelu (Rethink Cities Initiative) among others.
They praised the state government for its efforts to contain and mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
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They, however, expressed concern that the palliative measures were not achieving their desired effect.
They urged the state to consider the following a different strategy to achieve inclusive and sustainable Covid19 palliative care for the vulnerable.
“The state government should allow individuals, corporate and faith-based organisations with proven engagement in local communities to lead with the distribution of material support to these communities.
“Also, they should consider a time-limited financial support package to duly registered small-scale trade and market cooperatives, which will be disbursed through individual BVN accounts.
“International Development Assistance can be used to offset the costs of such payments. Then a mixed strategy of cash transfer plus in-kind support should be considered for the women in need, especially for the unbanked,” the groups said.
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