Daniel

An elder stateman and former member of Kogi State House of Assembly, Cdre. Folusho Daniel (retd) has called on people and government of Kogi State to be proactive in their response to the Covid-19 pandemic. He said government is doing far too little to combat a coronavirus invasion in the state.

Daniel canvassed the opinion in a contribution to discussion in a group chat, Tuesday morning. The retired Commodore likened Covid-19 outbreak to a ‘war’ and urged the government “to do more to secure the State against the invasion of Coronavirus.” He noted that those who want peace must prepare for war.

By a strange luck, since the outbreak of the virus, Kogi State is yet to record an infection within its territory, although nine of its ten neighbour states have active cases.

But Daniel cautioned against jubilating cover the situation. “We must cry out as a State that is bordered by many other States that are affected. If you ask for my opinion, I will tell you in plain truth that we have cases of Coro in the State. We have not discovered because we lack the capacity to test.

He said rather than rejoicing that Kogi is free of the virus, “we should rather pretend that we have some confirmed cases already in Kogi. That way we could task our initiatives to the limit on a number of measures we need to take and urgently too. It is good to pray it never happens but it is better to prepare as if it will happen.” He cautioned.

Describing the pandemic as a war without boundary, he decried the current level of apathy in the State
“The State needs to start random testings now. We cannot wait for when the symptoms are manifesting. That time will just be too late. We must cry out for assistance from everywhere including private individuals and organisations, our big men in the State and in diasporas, everybody can contribute something. By now we must have test centres at least one in each Senatorial District. We must be proactive rather than being reactive in this case. This is a war in which offensive action can serve the purpose of defence. To fold our arms and wait for the doom’s day will serve no good.

“The Government is doing something” But that “something” is too small, too meagre, too token and too ineffective to satisfy our expectations. The efforts of the Government at the moment is far below a pass mark. A stitch in time saves nine. A word will be enough for the wise. It is only when the war is over that we can praise efforts. For now, the battle continues. May God grant us a full and final victory.