Executive Secretary of Catholic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria Rev. Fr Uchechukwu Obodoechina, on Thursday, said poverty was responsible for neglect of safety protocols by Nigerians.

Obodoechina spoke with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of a workshop by United States Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and Caritas Foundation in Lagos.

The workshop was on COVID-19 messages of hope intervention and presentation of sensitisation materials, organised with Nigeria Inter-Faith Action Association (NIFAA).

The cleric noted that while coronavirus was a reality, many were concerned more about their welfare and feeding.

He said this had contributed to increasing rate of the virus in the country.

“Unfortunately, many people and average Nigerians are busy these days about what concerns them, their feeding and maintenance and not about COVID-19.

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“If you go to the market, you won’t believe what you see because the prices of goods are skyrocketing everyday and many are living in abject poverty.

“So, when you talk about COVID-19 the concentration is on what do I have to eat before you talk about the virus,” he said.

According to him, this position do not remove the fact that COVID-19 was not a reality because it was a reality.

He warned Nigerians to be wary of the virus and adhere to its safety protocols despite the hunger in the land.

“COVID-19 is real but we are grateful to God that we are shielded …” he said.

The reverend father, however, urged governments to wake up to their responsibilities and do more to stop the virus.

Obodoechina said more efforts were necessary because the idea of COVID-19 in Nigeria was accompanied with controversies and politics.

“Responsibility of the welfare of the people is the bounding obligation of government.

“If foreign governments, through bilateral relations could take up this responsibility, our indigenous government should do more,” he said.

Obodoechina noted that Caritas Nigeria, in partnership with U.S. CDC, would work with religious leaders and others to spread the messages of awareness and safety protocols.

He said the foundation would organise a roundtable with experts in science and faith leaders to get more insight on the virus, safety protocols and vaccination.

“We believe once religious leaders are convinced from the point of view of experts, they will pass the knowledge to their congregation and we would have achieved a train-the-trainer type of training,” he said.