Date: 2020-04-25

Kwara State Governor AbdulRaman AbdulRazaq said on Thursday that 20,000 commercial transport workers would benefit from the state Social Investment Programme (KWSSIP).

He added that the state had set aside N100million in that regards to cushion the effect of the lockdown caused by COVID-19 pandemic.

The governor told reporters in Ilorin on the sidelines of the enumeration exercise of would-be beneficiaries of the programme.

Said he: "When we started this programme, we planned to give out N10,000 each to 10,000 transport workers as loan. As at this morning we have already registered about 7,000 people and we still have about a week of enumeration to go in Ilorin.

"We have to go to Kwara South and North. So we are envisaging that the number will get to 20,000 people. If you calculate N10,000 by 10,000 people, this is N100 million. Extending to 20,000 people will amount to N200million.

"We are still looking at our budget of N100 million. After the enumeration, we will look at each of them on case by case basis, family sizes and ages. Some people will get a sum of N5,000 and some N10,000.

"As you can see this is a rolling thing. We will move the numbers higher based on this demand. Don't forget it is not only transport workers we have in the state.

"We have the tailoring union, market association, etc. We are going to have safety net. We cannot leave our people behind. We have to take care of them."

The Committee on COVID-19 in Alanamu Ward, Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State is to fumigate markets, health centres and the mini-palace of Balogun Alanamu of Ilorin.

This is to prevent Coronavirus pandemic and decontaminate the places.

Chairman, Sub-Committee on Health of the main committee, Prof. Akanbi Ajibola spoke yesterday in Ilorin when the team visited the Balogun Alanamu of Ilorin, Alhaji Abubakar Akanbi Jos.

Ajibola, a professor of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, said that the committee would distribute sanitisers and face masks to members of the community as part of the preventive measures.

He urged residents to cultivate the habit of social and physical distancing, wash hands regularly with soap and water and apply sanitisers.

The sub-committee chairman also told them to comply with the directive of the government on lockdown, saying the decision was taken in the interest of the well-being of the citizens.

The Nation recalls that the government had ordered a full scale lockdown of activities in the state in the wake of the confirmed cases of Coronavirus.

Ajibola warned against nonchalance of some people on the existence of the virus, hailing the government for setting up COVID-19 committee at the ward level.

Said he: "The major problem we have with COVID-19 is that it originated internationally. But in a situation where you have pandemic, what usually follows is community transmission, and people still don't believe that COVID-19 really exists.

"So, what we need to do is go to the grassroots in line with the idea of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq that all the 193 wards in Kwara State should form COVID-19 committees. And that was the reason Alanamu Ward sprang into action by setting up a committee. What we need to do is go to the grassroots and sensitise our people on the need to obey the government directive.

"There are many things that we can do. This COVID-19 is real, and it is better for people to be locked in rather being knocked down. Our home is better than intensive care, and prevention is cheaper than cure. We need to advise our people to follow the government directive in order to combat this deadly disease. This is what we are doing with house-to- house campaign.

"As part of our programmes, which we are going to do, we will fumigate some important areas, distribute sanitisers and face masks to members of the community."

The Chairman, COVID-19 Committee in the ward, Yekini Agunbiade, said the first phase of the committee's assignments was to fumigate the market, chief's palace and basic health centre in the ward.

He stated that the operation of the main committee he headed had been decentralised with sub-committees such as Finance, Health, Publicity, Contact, Palliative and Enforcement.

Agunbiade urged the people to adhere to the lockdown order of the government, noting that but for the decisive action; the number of infected persons would have risen.