COVID-19: Lockdown Order Was Relaxed So Residents Won't Starve -Obiano -

Willie Obiano, Anambra State Governor, has said that the reason the lockdown imposed on the state was relaxed was to avoid the looming social unrest and hunger amongst the residents of the state.

The governor emphasised the importance of ensuring the balance between protecting the economy and public health.

Obiano disclosed this in a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, C-Don Adinuba on Monday.

He said:

“Like every other government, the Anambra State administration is bound to protect its people from the ravages of COVID-19 but it cannot afford to do so by unwittingly allowing millions of its people to die of hunger and starvation or by causing their businesses to collapse through an unmitigated lockdown.

“The 28 days of lockdown, when all markets were shut down, vehicular and human movements restricted, schools closed, traditional religious services suspended, funerals, wedding and title taking ceremonies practically stopped, have already taken an enormous toll on the people’s well being.

“Social unrest must be avoided. If people in developed nations could not accept more than three weeks of lockdown, despite the immense social safety nets for the poor and the huge amounts paid by governments directly to the citizens who lost their jobs in the wake of COVID-19, we can imagine what the most vulnerable in our society and elsewhere in Africa have been going through.”