A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Mufutau Egberongbe has called for use of traditional means of advocacy to curb the continuous spread of deadly Coronavirus pandemic.
Egberongbe, who is representing Apapa Federal Constituency in the lower chamber of the National Assembly, said the advocacy concerning the deadly virus, which has claimed millions of lives all over the world, should not be limited to radio and television stations alone.
The lawmaker while urging federal and states government to bring advocacy on the disease down to the level of market places and motor parks, said, “We should try to localise our mode of advocacy using some of our people in the theatre arts industry to sing this message to our people.
“These people in the theatre arts industry should be involved to engage our people in market places and motor parks. The local chiefs too should be engaged via the use of town criers.
We should let the people at the grassroots know the import of the issue in question. We should do more pictorial evidence of what is happening around the world so that people can see with their eyes. Then, they can begin to see that this is not a joking matter and that it is about their lives.
“While I pity our governments too because each time they ask people to stay back at home, the populace will start asking you how they would survive.
“People seem not to have
understand that any life that is lost can never come back. We don’t have enough health facilities and hospital beds to cope with the exigency of total endemic of this nature. That is why we should be careful,” Egberongbe stated.
Speaking on the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to relax the five-week lockdown initially placed on Abuja, Lagos and Ogun States, the former member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, urged the federal government to have a rethink.
His words: “Honestly, I am curious as to the position reached by the president. While I agree that the economy is on the path of a serious downturn, I want to think that the economy should not be the sole consideration when considering the issue of security of lives.
“The primary responsibility of government is the security of lives and properties, and to an extent, it is the right thing to do.
“While I agree that we are going through a difficult time considering the fact that most people in the country live on a daily income, at the same time, I became more worried that at a time when the pace of occurrences is on the high side, astronomically too, I think relaxing this lockdown should be given a second thought,” he added.