Covid-19: Our economy too fragile for another lockdown, Buhari warns Nigerians

 PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has urged Nigerians to abide by Covid-19 protocols recommended by health authorities in the country to curtail the spread of the killer virus

The president noted that the country cannot afford another lock down that could be necessitated by a second wave of the pandemic as Nigeria’s economy is too fragile for it.

Buhari stated this on Thursday via his verified Twitter handle.

“Looking at the trends in other countries, we must do all we can to avert a second wave of Covid-19 in Nigeria.

“We must make sure that our cases, which have gone down, do not rise again. Our economy is too fragile to bear another round of lockdown,” @MBuhari tweeted.

President Buhari had in March imposed a total lockdown on parts of the country including Lagos, Abuja and Ogun.

The lockdown lasted for over five weeks and had a tremendous effect on the country’s economic activities with the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry putting the loss at about N3bn in the period under review.

The Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 had at its many briefings frowned on the disregard for the pandemic protocol by Nigerians while warning against a second wave of the virus in the country.

The task force had also urged citizens to obey social distancing, use of face masks, and regular washing of hands, amongst others.

According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, the country has recorded over 62,000 infections including over 1,100 fatalities.

NCDC has, however, said Nigeria may witness a surge in the number of infected people following the wave of protests that swept across the country recently during which many of the protesters flouted the Covid-19 guidelines.