COVID-19: How Will President Buhari Curfew Imposition Help The Pandemic Fight

President Muhammadu Buhari in his widely anticipated national broadcast on Monday concerning the health quagmire the country is enmeshed in unveil series of new and revised measures to help tackle the virulent COVID-19 pandemic especially in the federal capital territory, Abuja and two states, Lagos and Ogun.

While some of the existing measures, like banning of large gatherings, will continue to be place, others have been revised and new ones have been promulgated.

With the relaxation of the lockdown effective from May 4th, the federal government has imposed an overnight curfew from 8pm to 6am on all states of the federation .

Consequently, this means all movements will be prohibited during this period except essential services.

But one begins to question the rationale behind Imposition of curfew as part of the efforts to check the spread of an Infectious disease.

Curfew, as it is known, is part of strategy deployed to restore peace and orderliness in places beleaguered by war and violence.

It is not a strategy to be activated in the curtailment of a virulent infection that does not have a time frame alloted to its spread.

The Curfew is just a mere formality to save face as it will have little or no bearing in the fight against the pandemic as Nigeria, during the almost five weeks lockdown, tested less than ten thousand people, a sickening contrast from other African countries with far lesser population.

Some Nigerians are of the opinion that the lockdown is partially lifted because the government cannot sustain the provision of palliatives to the citizens, with some saying the government finding itself between a rock and a hard place, had to choose between saving the economy and people’s health, it chose to go for the former.