Economic and business experts have warned that continued lockdown of activities in the country will hurt the economy and severely affect livelihoods.
An industrialist, Dr. Anene Somadina, told Daily Trust on Sunday that another lockdown extension would bring immense hardship to the masses and they would likely ignore the government order and law enforcement agencies would have difficulty enforcing compliance due to the number of violations.
Dr. Somadina, who is the Vice President of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) in charge of Commerce, said the more effective approach should be to open up the economy and allow people to fend for themselves but that government should insist on some rules.
“The government should insist on social distancing and wearing of masks, especially given that government palliatives are not adequate. This is most appropriate considering the fact that most Nigerians live on daily income,” he said.
An economist, Tope Fasua, said the recent shutdown is likely to cause problems for many businesses.
“Goods are acquiring demurrage at the ports and if the lockdown persists, many importers will simply abandon the goods, and many will go bankrupt,” he said.
Fasua made a case for the federal government to reopen the economy and adopt alternative approaches to stem the spread of COVID-19.
He said the lockdown must be halted to save lives and livelihood and recommended the setting up of a war room to strategize deeply on the next steps to take.
“The expectation that millions of us will fall dead, will only be realized when they further impoverish us (or we end up impoverishing ourselves) more than we already are today,” he said.
Similarly, the Atedo Peterside-led think tank on COVID-19 advised the federal and state governments to allow economic activities resume cautiously across the country.
The group, led by the chairman and vice chairman of Anap Foundation COVID-19 Think Tank, Atedo Peterside and Abubakar Siddique Mohammed respectively, said the current compulsory lockdown across the country had failed.
The think tank was established on 22 March, 2020, to respond to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and has 18 members drawn from across the six geopolitical zones and the diaspora (Germany and USA).
“It is time to review the strategy, as it is clear that compulsory lockdowns (as implemented by our own security agencies) are not working. Food has become a lot more expensive in various urban centres, as transportation costs have soared due to rising security obstacles, arbitrary closure of inter-state borders and other supply chain disruptions,” they said.
The think tank said restricted market days and curfews often result in needless overcrowding thereby negating adherence to social distancing.
“We believe there is a need to change direction from a compulsory lockdown to an intelligent lockdown (as practiced by a few countries) which largely thrives on voluntary actions by an informed populace,” the group advised.
Members recommended an end to the compulsory lockdowns and intensification of public enlightenment and awareness of the importance of social distancing in public and in public transportation (with rules that prevent overcrowding), wearing masks, improve sanitation and provision of water in public places to facilitate washing of hands.
They further recommended that suspension of large public, social and religious gatherings should continue until further notice and schools should remain closed while those who can, should work from home.
They also asked the federal government to make arrangements for Nigerians trapped abroad to return home.
