People who do not believe that there is corona virus should believe and take care of themselves and follow all the protocols announced by the government. I will encourage everyone to take the vaccine if the government makes it available. I urged the government to make the vaccine available to everyone and not a select few.
Mr Joseph Osunu
Have they tested the vaccine before? The country that produces it, have they taken and proved that that it will serve as a remedy and cure the disease? So, if it has been endorsed scientifically and our medical experts say we should take, we’ll go ahead and take it.
I urged the government to create more awareness just like polio vaccine and others. People will not just agree from the beginning, so if there’s more orientation and awareness, Nigerians will embrace it.
I believe over time, Nigeria will adhere to it because this is not the only pandemic we have experienced, we have experienced so many pandemics in the past and this one is not an exception, so I believe that Nigerians will adhere to the instructions.
David Onagie
I am not in support of it because I don’t believe that there’s coronavirus. “As you can see, I am not using face mask because my friends, my colleagues or anybody has never told me that his brothers or sisters have the infection. So I don’t believe it.
The government should not force the citizenry to take vaccine because if they do, it means that they have something to hide. When they bring the vaccine let them give it to those who want to take it.
Peter Ogudiran
Why will I take? I won’t because I don’t trust the federal government and I don’t believe that there’s coronavirus. I can’t take something from someone I do not trust and I don’t trust the federal government and if there’s coronavirus, I don’t mind if it kills me because I don’t believe what the federal government is saying.
Michael Ogbeche
I have no piece of advice for the government because I don’t believe that there’s coronavirus but if the vaccine comes and people are taking it, if it does not affect them negatively, I will take.
Elias Benedict
Before the federal government administers the vaccine, it must pass through clinical tests and if it is ascertained that the vaccine is in order, I will take it.
To those who still doubt the existence of COVID-19, I suggest that once others have taken and they are still alive, they should throw away their doubts and take the vaccine as well, but it must pass through normal clinical test to establish that the vaccine has no side effects.
Would You Support Another Lockdown Of the Country?
Comrade Sunday Asefon, NANS President
The president, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Comrade Sunday Asefon, has disagreed vehemently with the suggestion that another round of lockdown should be slammed on the country to curb the second phase of COVID-19 pandemic.
Asefon said the measure would affect the average Nigerian, adding that there was dishonesty on the part of the leaders in the distribution of palliatives to the citizens.
He said the lockdown, which would mean nobody goes to his place of work or worship, could only be effective if the government at all levels support poor households with food, “which I know would be sabotaged by greedy and corrupt individuals as they did in 2020.”
Asefon said the country should be ready to pay an average working Nigerian feeding allowance of N75,000 monthly before another lockdown could be contemplated.
He said: “The shoddy handling of the palliative packages in some states like Lagos, Osun, Plateau, Kaduna and others, propelled the citizens to embark on looting sprees, which nearly tarnished the country’s image globally.”
The NANS boss added that he does not subscribe to the suggestion because the government failed scandalously during the first phase of COVID-19 spread in 2020, thereby subjecting the people to hunger, deprivation and wanton neglect.
Asefon advised the federal government to rather apply guided lockdown that would allow people to seek for their means of livelihoods and obey COVID-19 protocols, since the government lack the statistics and moral standing with which it can dispense palliatives to Nigerians evenly and justly.
Linda Amara, Staff, Genesis Cinema, Abuja
To Linda Amara, a staff of Genesis Cinema, Abuja, hearing the word lockdown alone is annoying. The last lockdown made many people to be sick as they stayed in-door while others died due to hunger and other illnesses, but we thought it is COVID-19 killing them.
“Government should preach self-consciousness and personal hygiene not another lockdown again. We can only agree to a second lockdown if we are all going to be paid every month,” she said.
Peter Oyeneye, Chief Executive Officer at Advanced Management Academy, Abuja
Oyeneye thanked God for the capability of the government and its relevant agencies for effective management of the pandemic last year as “we did not reach the level of the pandemic envisaged.
He said: “The question is not about locking down or not but about the government doing everything possible to control the second spike of the pandemic. But when all other control measures fail the government may not have a choice than to lockdown.”
He therefore advised the government to step up communication and advocacy programmes to help the people and ensure its agencies are mutually working. Monitoring is very important because there have been complaints of poor responses by some agencies.
“Government must ensure key stakeholders are effectively employed to win the trust of the people and convince them of the need to obey COVID-19 protocols: these stakeholders are religious leaders, labor union leaders, educators, politicians, and media executives.
“But don’t lock people down without adequate support and palliatives,” Oyeneye stated.
Comrade Idowu Odebunmi, Former NANS PRO
Former spokesperson, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Comrade Idowu Odebunmi said another lockdown will cripple the economy. “Nigeria is gasping to survive, the rate of borrowing to finance the budget is high, so a second lockdown will spell doom for the economy and it will increase criminal activities,” he said.
Collins C. Ezem, Maltina Teacher of the Year 2019
The Maltina Teacher of the Year 2019, Collins C. Ezem does not support another lockdown of the country. Giving reasons for his stand, Ezem said it is of importance for the citizenry to maintain a positive attitude in this challenging time when the coronavirus’ second spike has come with a complicated variant different from the first as some people who were infected and have recovered testified. Right now, we have to stay safe, alive, and healthy which implies that we need to practice all the COVID-19 protocols put in place by the NCDC both in our homes and public places.
“Talking about the implications of the likelihood of a second lockdown as being rumoured, we need to take a cursory review of what the first lockdown cost us, particularly in our education sector.
“It is not news to say that even before the first lockdown, we already had an educational system that was crying for help, and the moment the lockdown was slammed, the education system didn’t only cry for help but begged to survive. Why? This happened because we were ill-prepared for such an institutional tie-up; many of our teachers and stakeholders had no mastery of the concept of “education during an emergency.
“The government was confused and couldn’t issue a clear statement to help us officially pursue our academic calendar online; many teachers were not trained for virtual teaching, many private school owners didn’t have the technological know-how to deliver the kind of remote learning that could make an impact in the lives of learners.
“Parents in urban and rural areas seemed not to have any idea of how to supervise virtual learning for their children at home. The problem of the impoverished internet network was a major challenge and by the time the first lockdown was over, we were left with children who were disconnected from academics programmes, teachers who forfeited their motivation to teach, and an educational programme that is was disorganised and disharmonised.
“Another lockdown will arouse a huge depletion in our educational sector, the sector will not only cry for survival but I am worried it may die completely. This is because even before the Christmas’ break, a lot of learners and educators had difficulties to catch up with both the quality of teaching and learning and also the challenge of covering the required content for the term.”
“As it is, even right now, both public and private teachers, and learners are still not properly equipped for real virtual teaching and learning that can bridge the gap. If we can be technically prepared, then another lockdown can be painless to some extent because somehow, we will sort the imbalance in our academic programmes but we are not ready obviously.
“Another implication of a possible lockdown will be the massive exodus of promising teachers to other professions. Already with the first lockdown, we experienced serious occupational mobility of labour in the teaching profession; we missed our teachers to other money-making ventures because many teachers ended up with little or no salaries during the first lockdown and it is still telling on the system.
“Another lockdown will also affect parents, children, and families which cannot afford a technological device to cope with any online programme that may be available for them.
“Again, our academic calendar will receive a major setback as many public examinations like WAEC might be shifted causing students to mislay their motivation to prepare for these examinations while teachers’ enthusiasm to teach will be dampened.
Generally speaking, another lockdown will truly lockdown our education system and that will be synonymous with destroying the future of our young people,” he said.
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