Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has extended the quarantine order being enforced in the state for another 30 days.
The governor’s decision follows a recommendation to that effect by the State Standing Committee on Covid-19, which is chaired by the Deputy Governor, Mrs Hadiza Balarabe. This took effective from Sunday, 26th April 2020.
This was contained in a statement signed by Mr Muyiwa Adekeye, Special Adviser to the Governor (Media & Communication).
The statement said ”with Covid-19 cases rising rapidly in neighbouring states and FCT, and with strong evidence of interstate travel being a major means of spreading the virus, the Standing Committee’s evaluation is that measures to protect Kaduna State residents require further strengthening and more vigorous enforcement.”
“Mr El-Rufai has endorsed this evaluation and has accordingly reviewed the Quarantine Orders to strengthen the provisions against unauthorised movements. The two-day window during which the restriction of movement is relaxed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays has been reduced to only one day.”
El-Rufai on Sunday also announced that the state public servants earning, at least, N67, 000 will have 25 per cent of their salaries ‘donated’ to the state’s purse until the end of the quarantine period.
The state government did not say if the ‘donation’ was made voluntarily by affected civil servants.
“Career public servants earning a net pay of N67,000 and above aftertax will also donate 25% of their pay monthly whilst the quarantine conditions are in place,” El-Rufai’s media adviser, Adekeye, said in a statement while announcing the extension of the lockdown in the state for another 30 days.
“No public servant will have less N50,000 monthly to manage in this emergency period,” he said.
Adekeye said the governor has also asked the state senior appointees, including commissioners, permanent secretaries, special advisers and heads of agencies to each donate N500,000 each in April 2020.
“In subsequent months, they will donate 50% of their salaries until the quarantine ends,” he said.
The quarantine ends at the end of May after being extended by 30 days And henceforth, only Wednesdays will be lockdown-free, until the trajectory of Covid-19 infections becomes clearer.
The governor said the contribution from the “less than 100,000” political appointees and public servants in the state is needed in enabling the 10 million persons living in the state to survive and thrive in this emergency period.
As a state government, we are also seeking donations from high net worth individuals, the private sector and development partners to support our efforts to contain Covid-19 and its consequences,” Adekeye.
“Kaduna State Government wishes to inform potential donors that we prefer donations to be in kind: personal protective equipment, PCR machines, medical facilities and equipment, facemasks, food, pharmaceuticals, and fertilizer, seeds and seedlings and other support for farmers.”
Kaduna State will be the first state to take such decision as Nigeria battles the spread of coronavirus that has crumbled the global economy.
Kaduna has 10 confirmed cases of coronavirus.
Nigeria, like many other countries, has been hit economically by the virus as world oil price keeps dipping. Many of the states in the country have restricted movements and barred large gatherings. A federal government-ordered lockdown is in place in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun states.
But a former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria Mr Charles Soludo argued that many African nations cannot afford to lock down their economies and prolonged border closure in the long run.
In fact, the International Monetary Fund recently said Nigeria is heading into recession and it may be the country’s worst in 30 years.
President Muhammadu Buhari may address the country today as the lockdown he ordered in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja expires.
Vanguard/Guardian
