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While many Nigerians welcome the easing of the lockdown, they expect both the federal and governments to improve on the administration of the palliatives, while the central bank should execute its post COVID-19 rescue packages for businesses in order to rescue the economy and save thousands of jobs
By Goddy Ikeh
FOR some Nigerians, the easing of the lockdown nationwide, especially the lockdown imposed on Abuja, Lagos and Ogun states by the federal government is a welcome development. Some Nigerian economists and policy analysts have severally described the measure as panicky and a misplaced priority by these governments since the country has no capacity to manage such a measure in the fight against the deadly COVID-19. They pointed to the poor handling of the palliatives and the other measures announced by both the federal and state governments as the basis for their anxiety.
For instance, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Prof. Charles Soludo, stated in his reaction to the lockdown that in most western countries, the cocktail of response included a coterie of defensive measures, including: border closure; prepare isolation centres and mobilize medical personnel/facilities; implement “stay at home” orders or lockdowns except for food, medicine and essential services; campaign for basic hygiene and social distancing; arrange welfare packages for the vulnerable; and also economic stimulus packages to mitigate the effects on the macro economy.
In his review of the measures adopted by the Nigerian government and some other African countries to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Soludo noted that many African countries have largely copied the above template, to varying degrees. Piece-meal extensions of “stay at home” or lockdown orders as in many western countries have also been copied in Africa. But he wondered if Africa can really afford lockdowns, and if it can be effective.
He noted that given the social and economic circumstances of Africa and the impending ‘economic pandemic’, can Africa successfully and sustainably defeat Covid-19 by copying the conventional trial-and-error template of the western nations?
Soludo disclosed that in the western societies from where we copied the lockdown/border closure, their citizens are literally paid to stay at home (by silently dropping monies into their accounts plus other incentives). He, however, noted that despite these palliatives, there are restiveness/protests in several of these countries with the unrelenting pressure to eliminate the restrictions.
In its reaction to the lockdown, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, noted that with the lockdown, all economic activities have been brought to a halt. Digital platforms have become more vibrant, but not enough to generate the desired momentum of economic activities. Interactions and connectivity among economic agents are at the lowest ebb. It is thus important to begin to set agenda for the Nigerian economy after the pandemic – a post pandemic rescue plan.
“The pandemic has derailed business projections and several risks have crystallized. Businesses have been grounded by the lockdown; supply chains disrupted, and aggregate demand depressed. Investment assumptions have collapsed across sectors. Businesses are faced with a force majeure and the shocks are profound and unprecedented. The mortality of SMEs is set to heighten as they have tenuous capacity to absorb shocks, especially of a scale that we are currently witnessing.
“To save the economy from collapse, we need to salvage investments across all levels – micro, small, medium and large enterprises. Without investment, we cannot have jobs; aggregate demand would remain weak; government revenue would be in jeopardy as tax revenue plummets; and economic sustainability will be at risk. This underscores the imperative of an urgent rescue package for business to enable investors ride out the storms,” Muda Yusuf, the director general of the LCCI said in a statement.
In the same vein, the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, also joined the clamour for the relaxation of the lockdown order. Ayuba Wabba, the president of the NLC urged the federal government to consider the plights of vulnerable and poor Nigerians.
“There are some Nigerians who depend on a meal per day for survival,” Wabba said in an interview. He stressed the need to strike a balance at this point in time. “If we are going to extend, we must put in place palliatives that must reach the poor of the poor,” he said, urging governments at all levels to ensure that the poorest in their midst who cannot afford a meal per day is well taken care of.
Following the pressure mounted on the federal government to avert the hunger pandemic caused by the lockdown and review the measure, President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, April 27, announced the easing of the lockdown order in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun states and imposed an immediate lockdown of Kano state, which has recorded several deaths.
He noted that in line with the goal to develop implementable policies that will ensure our economy continues to function with while still maintaining our aggressive response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the recommendations of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, “I have approved for a phased and gradual easing of lockdown measures in FCT, Lagos and Ogun States effective from Saturday, 2nd May, 2020 at 9am”.
“However, this will be followed strictly with aggressive reinforcement of testing and contact tracing measures while allowing the restoration of some economic and business activities in certain sectors,” he said.
Buhari gave the following conditions for the implementation of the lifting of the order. According to him, selected businesses and offices can open from 9am to 6pm; overnight curfew from 8pm to 6am, ban on non-essential inter-state passenger travels until further notice and mandatory use of face masks or coverings in public in addition to maintaining physical distancing and personal hygiene.
Unfortunately, the easing of the lockdown is coming at a time that the country is recording more than 200 new cases daily due mainly to the record increase of testing more than 2000 persons a day. Chikwe Ihekweazu, director general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, said that the taskforce was currently struggling for bed spaces for the treatment of COVID-19 patients in Lagos state, which has the highest number of persons infected by coronavirus in the country. Ihekweazu said at the daily briefing of the presidential taskforce in Abuja on Thursday, April 30 that Lagos had 947 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 187 recoveries. He said that efforts were being made to change the strategy in order not to allow the inadequate bed spaces affect the fight against coronavirus.
In an apparent move to allay the fears of Nigerians, who feel that the easing of the lockdown was rather hasty, the minister of health, Osagie Ehanire, said: “We have survived many past epidemics, but COVID-19 has been the most difficult and damaging that nations and healthcare systems have faced in recent times.” Speaking at the daily briefing on Friday, May 1, in Abuja, the minister admitted that the coronavirus pandemic has crippled the world’s economies and it would soon be a thing of the past in Nigeria.
With the latest development of easing the lockdown, all efforts should be directed at rescuing the battered economy. The minister of finance, budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmed, has already set her mind on the rebuilding the country’s fragile economy. In her defense of borrowing $3.4 billion from International Monetary Fund, IMF on April 29, Ahmed said in an interview with Channels Television that the loan would help in curbing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and regulating the crash in crude oil prices. According to her, the money will support the budget and stabilize the country’s economy in view of the huge drop of the revenue from oil and gas sector. In addition, the Senate reconvened and approved the request of the president for a loan of N850 billion. The lawmakers, who met on Tuesday, April 28, at the Senate Chambers speedily approved the loan, which would be sourced from the domestic capital market to finance the 2020 budget.
With the easing of the lockdown, Nigerians expect that the administration of the palliatives by the various governments are not only continued, but should be made more transparent to tackle the hunger pandemic, while the central bank should speedily execute its post COVID-19 rescue packages for businesses, especially the small and medium scale enterprises to enable investors ride out the storms and save thousands of jobs.
– May 3, 2020 @ 14:25 GMT |
A.I
Tags: averting hunger pandemic Easing of Lockdown Easing of Lockdown: Raises issues of timid measures
