Covid-19: We Are Working On Palliatives For Oyo People – Makinde

By Abiodun Ogunrinde, Ibadan

Oyo State Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, on
Saturday, informed residents of the state that his
government is already working on palliatives to
ease the pressure on the people following the
partial shutdown of activities as part of the precautionary measures to curtail the spread of
Covid-19.

The governor, however, added that the state would
need to work on accurate data and design that
would ensure the palliatives get into the hands of
those who truly need them.

According to him, it was important that the palliatives to be put in place get to those with genuine needs for them and that they are not cornered by middlemen.

A statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to
the Governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, indicated that
Governor Makinde stated these during a phone-in
interview programme on Ibadan-based Fresh 105.9
FM, as well as and a one-hour Tweetchat via his Twitter handle @seyiamakinde on Saturday.

The statement noted that the government had
stepped up enlightenment campaigns on Covid-19, while also enforcing measures on the lockdown of
activities in the state.

Governor Makinde maintained that as part of
measures to contain the spread of the disease in
the state, the state government in collaboration
with the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan,
has set up a diagnostic centre to handle testing of
samples, noting that the state was only awaiting
NCDC endorsement.
He explained that once the centres are certified, it
would become easier to test more people.

Governor Makinde added that apart from the
preventive measures, the state has set up isolation
centres, with 4-bed isolation unit in Ogbomoso, 10-
bed at Jericho, 4-bed at UCH and 100-bed capacity
at Olodo, Ibadan, which will be ready on Thursday.

He noted that the ICU beds in the state currently
have ventilators.

The governor further noted that the state has Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers in all 33 LGAs and 35 LCDAs and that Local Government
Caretaker Chairpersons were already involved in
enlightenment campaigns and implementation of
directives, complementing the state-wide campaign
and efforts to prevent Covid-19 in the state.

Governor Makinde, who maintained that the state
has ensured that health workers have the required
equipment and personal gears, and that wherever it
identified gaps, it would immediately plug them,
counseled the people of the state to stay safe by
following the proper hygienic practices – washing
of hands regularly or using an alcohol-based hand
sanitisers and also practising social distancing.

The governor explained that the though the
administration understood the challenge of asking
residents to stay at home, the decision to shut down activities was in the best interest of the state as according to him, it would be effective in curtailing the spread of the virus.

He said: “It is a challenge that we asked people to
stay home and don’t have palliatives to give them.

The oil price is at its lowest. What we get from Federal Allocation is almost half of what we were
getting at the beginning of this administration. So,
when you put all of those together, it is a big challenge and we are almost left with nothing.

“Even, if we want to do palliatives, how do we run it
to ensure that they will get to the people who really
need them? But we will welcome anyone with
bright ideas to come forward and we will sit down
together to evaluate those ideas. We are working on palliatives. But we want to set it up in such a way that it’s not middlemen that will profit but
those who need the palliatives.

According to Governor Makinde, it has put up
additional measures to combat the pandemic,
including the reduction of gathering from 30 to 10 people, closure of markets to all traders except
those selling foodstuffs and a 7p.m. to 6 a.m.
curfew as well as a ban on transportation to and from the state.

He explained that the directive on religious
gathering is for all religions, as Covid-19 is not a
respecter of any religion, saying that the risk of
breaking any of the directives is huge and would
affect everyone.

The Governor added: “Everything we can do to
prevent an outbreak of Covid-19 is on the table.

We will continue to assess the situation and put
measures in place.
“For now, I have directed that additional measures
be put in place, including a 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew and reduction in the number of gathering of 30 people to 10 persons.

“As from tomorrow night (Sunday, March 29), all
markets will be closed, except for those selling
perishable food items. We are also using that
same point to ban transportation into and out of
the state. The only exceptions are vehicles carrying
food items, medical, pharmaceutical, essential
services and petroleum products.

“We will keep reviewing these measures on a
weekly basis. We are here to ensure that we make
logical sense out of the information that is emanating from the people.

“It is unfortunate that some people, rather than
coming on board to see what they can do to assist
the government, they are busy criticising us. Well,
they are free to do that because we don’t know it
all. They can criticise and we are here to listen to
them.”

Governor Makinde, who equally informed residents
of the state that he was in self-isolation following
an instruction to governors who attended the last
National Economic Council Meeting in Abuja.

He said that he would be the first to get tested
once the state diagnostic centre comes on stream
after NCDC’s certification.

He said: “I am self-isolating because of the
advisory of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum. So, the
protocol is, whoever has made contact with one of
our members who tested positive should also self-
isolate until you have your own test result, then one
will be free to move around.

“Within the confines of the situation we have found
ourselves, I am at home for now but this does not
still disturb the assignment, which the good people
of Oyo state have given me to do.
“We know that our testing capacity is limited.

Our state government, in collaboration with College of Medicine and University College Hospital, has set up a diagnostic centre to handle testing of
samples, and we are only awaiting NCDC
endorsement.
When the testing centres in Ibadan are certified, I
will be the first to test.

“One reason why this is the case is that the virus is
imported and testing capacity is limited. Setting up
our testing centres enables us to test more people
which means that people showing symptoms can
get tested regardless of their travel history.”

The governor, who called on well-meaning
individuals and organisations who have the
intention of collaborating with the state in one way
or the other to fight Covid-19, charged them to reach out to State’s Commissioner for Health or
the Oyo State Covid-19 Task Force on areas where
they can collaborate.

He acknowledged that already some private entities
have begun to cooperate with the state on the
Covid-19 prevention.

He stated: “I swore an oath to protect the people
of Oyo State and I will do that to the best of my
ability. People have come to me to render help and
I told the individuals that we need to key into whatever the government’s aspirations are. I
directed them to meet with the Commissioner for
Health. I told them we will appreciate whatever they can put on the table but not to just show off.

We are not in for that. We are in to analyse our
situation and find a solution that is obtainable and
workable.”