DEMOCRACY DAY ANNIVERSARY: It’s a difficult time for us —Buhari 

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, state that the celebration of this year’s democracy day in Nigeria was being done at a difficult time due to the covid-19 pandemic ravaging the nation and the world.

Buhari, in his nationwide address said, “We are celebrating this year’s Democracy Day despite the COVID-19 pandemic which afflicts our nation and the whole world.

“It is indeed a very difficult time for everyone especially those who have lost loved ones to the virus and those whose sources of livelihood have been severely constrained by the stringent measures we introduced at every level of government to contain the virus and save lives.

“The dedication of our health and other essential services staff towards containing this virus is a testament of our courage and resilience as a people and as a great nation, and I use this opportunity to say thank you to all of you for your service to the nation.”

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Buhari’s speech came few hours after Nigeria recorded its highest daily increase of COVID-19 cases, as people infected with the virus in the country exceeded 14,000.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in its daily update on the pandemic said Thursday night that Nigeria recorded 681 new infections, highest ever, bringing the country’s total to 14,554.

Recall that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recently declared that 42 per cent of the respondents it surveyed in its newly released COVID-19 Impact Monitoring report were not currently working due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Meanwhile, Buhari in his speech congratulated Nigerians for sustaining democracy from 1999 to 2020.

“I congratulate all Nigerians and particularly leaders of our democratic institutions on their resilience and determination to ensure that Nigeria remains a shining example of democracy,” he said.

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