Former President Olusegun Obasanjo Friday commended the President Muhammad Buhari-led government and state governments for their efforts towards the fight against COVID-19.
The ex-president also warned Nigerians not to mistake the lifting of restrictions on lockdown for the end of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Obasanjo, who gave the warning at the 2020 Annual Sobo Sowemimo Lecture held at the Abeokuta Club, described COVID-19 as a disease that Nigeria in particular and Africa was ill-prepared for and poorly equipped to tackle.
Obasanjo said: “The idea of leaving the states to deal with the issue mainly at their level on the principle of subsidiarity was a good one.
“It allowed each state with its limited resources and facilities to gear itself up and to issue instructions and regulations on restrictions based on the reality of the state.”
He, however, warned that while the federal and various state governments had relaxed the restrictions, Nigerians should not think that the nation had survived the pandemic.
The ex-president added: “Although restrictions are being lifted, we are not out of the woods yet.”
He, therefore, stressed the need for continuous awareness and measures “to disabuse the minds of ordinary people who may still believe that COVID-19 is not real or that it is the disease of the rich.”
“They must be conscious of the fact that the disease has no social or economic limitation or barrier.
“It can afflict anybody no matter his or her age, gender, profession or trade, social or economic standing.
“We must not let down our guard because we may not have reached the peak yet.
“If the epicenter has moved from China in Asia to Europe to North America and now to Brazil in South America, Africa may or may not escape being an epicenter.
“And even then, we must be prepared for the possibility of a second wave,” Obasanjo concluded.
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