A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former member of the House of Representatives, Dr Muyiwa Oladimeji, has stated that it is appalling that despite the laudable strides of the government of Osun state in fighting the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Federal Government has refused to lend its support to the state in spite of its meager resources.
The Russia-trained medical doctor who holds a Ph.D in Immunology and Nuclear Medicine stated that the Osun state government is doing well in containing the invasion of the disease through Ivory Coast, adding that the second lockdown is necessary if the battle will be won.
“Osun Government has been doing very well without fear of contradiction because Covid -19 is an enemy to all mankind and the way it came, the rapid response and the way Osun state blocked the invasion from Ejigbo should be applauded. I am talking now as a medical doctor since 1973 who has a postgraduate degree in immunology. So I know what I’m saying. I was the one that handled the cocoa toxic waste for the Federal Government in the late 80s.
“We must thank God for the way Osun in particular handled the matter. What is however appalling to me is that in spite of the invasion from Ivory Coast and in spite of the meltdown brought by Covid 19, Osun state is left on its own by the Federal Government to be handling this thing with no assistance from any source, I think this is unfair because if it had not been well handled, the whole of the South-West would have had a problem and if the South-West has problems, then, Nigeria would have been affected
“I think that there should be some reprieve or lifeline to Osun to encourage them for the good work in handling the Ejigbo issue. Osun is not one of the oil producing states and for the government of Osun state to be doing what they are doing with the meager resources at their disposal, I think they must be applauded,” he stated.
Dr Oladimeji who reiterated that his assessment is based on objective analysis emphasised that, “I want to say this, I do not belong to the ruling party in Osun right now but Covid-19 is not political, it doesn’t discriminate between PDP, APC or SDP nor does it discriminate against gender or status so it is battle that we all have to face and that is why I am saying the present government in the state is doing a good job and they should be applauded and supported.
According to him, while the government must be congratulated for its method and approach to have reached the level it has, it must not rest on its oars else the state gets overrun, adding that, “this is why I think the second lockdown initiative is good because it will ensure any infected person is clustered and easy for government to do contact tracing, if the borders are open, you won’t have this opportunity. Yes, it is uncomfortable because people are hungry and are not getting relieved and that is why I am upset that we are not getting assistance from the Federal Government in Osun state,” he said.
It will be recalled that upon profiling, some of the Ivory Coast returnees were indigenes and residents of other states such as Oyo, Lagos, Ogun, Imo, Edo, Delta and Abia, among others. And out of the 127 isolated and tested, 17 tested positive for coronavirus while 110 returned negative. Some of the 17 infected people were also from other states.
