CSOs seeks support for COVID-19 fight in states

Frank Ikpefan, Abuja

CONFERENCE of Harmonised Civil Society Organisations has appealed to the Federal Government to provide more support to states in containing the Coronavirus pandemic.

It suggested that states should be allowed to carry out research with a view to stemming COVID-19 and other future health emergencies.

The position of the six CSOs was contained in a statement by the Convener of Save Nigeria Movement, Semaka Solomon, yesterday.

It urged the Federal Government to continue leading the fight against the virus in face of current global health crisis by championing transparency through Nigeria Centre of Disease Control (NCDC).

Noting that daily figures reeled out by NCDC was creating panic, the group called for transparency and accountability in the fight against the virus by the leading agency.

“States should be allowed and supported to carry out research … with a view to stemming the COVID-19 pandemic and other future health emergencies.

“That we commend states, particularly Kogi and Cross River, for their proactive protocols and insistence that it is out-of-the-box thinking like theirs rather than the usual herd mentality that will get us out of the quagmire of the pandemic. If for nothing else, they gave the masses hope when others made it appear as if the world lay in the throes of the evil disease.

“We wish to reiterate  that the virus is real but should not be elevated to the levels such that it can create panic, denude the confidence the masses have in their government and ultimately destroy the economy, if not the fabric, of the nation.”