During his nationwide speech on Sunday, March 29, 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari announced a 14-day shutdown of business, economic and social activities in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja state. 

The President stated that “based on the advice of the Federal Ministry of Health and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), I am directing the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days with effect from 11 pm on Monday, 30th March 2020.” Buhari added that the restriction “will also apply to Ogun state due to its close proximity to Lagos and the high traffic between the two states.”

Buhari who disclosed reasons behind the shutdown emphasized that these states “have the majority of confirmed cases in Nigeria and our focus, therefore, remains to urgently and drastically contain these cases and to support other states and regions in the best way we can.” He also confirmed that governors of Lagos and Ogun state, as well as the Minister of the FCT have been notified. Similarly, heads of security and intelligence agencies have also been briefed to ensure that citizens in the aforementioned states adhere to the lockdown. 

Nevertheless, some businesses have been exempted from the shutdown, they include:

  • hospitals and all related medical establishments as well as organizations in healthcare-related manufacturing and distribution;
  • food processing, distribution, and retail companies;
  • petroleum distribution and retail entities;
  • power generation, transmission, and distribution companies; 
  • private security companies and; 
  • telecommunication companies, broadcasters, print, and electronic media (conditional)

Furthermore, all businesses and offices within these locations that are not on the exemptions list should be fully closed during this period. Subsequently, citizens in these areas are mandated to stay in their homes as traveling to or fro other states are also postponed. According to Buhari and his health advisers, this lockdown will help curb the transmission of the coronavirus in the states, where it is prevalent. Additionally, an intervention of 15 billion naira has been provided to support the national response in the fight to contain and control COVID-19. 

Reacting to President Buhari’s directive on Twitter, Sanwo-Olu, the Governor of Lagos state commended the President’s decision and encouraged Lagosians at home to remain resilient in the fight against COVID-19. Sanwo-Olu stated “We will use this containment period to identify, trace and isolate all individuals that have come into contact with confirmed cases. We will ensure the treatment of confirmed cases while restricting further spread to other states.”

The Lagos state Governor added that “the NCDC is working hard at ensuring confirmed cases get the best care possible. I guarantee that we will do all that is necessary to get through this period seamlessly.”

Similarly, Dr. Dapo Abidoun Governor of Ogun state in a tweet disclosed that the Western state “has identified ways to actualize social distancing and ensure proper security according to developments.” Abiodun said, “ I met with all Security Chiefs and we discussed implementation and enforcement of the directives we earlier rolled out and preparation of our border closure all in an effort to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.” 

The NCDC on Sunday, March 29 revealed that the total number of confirmed cases in Nigeria was 111 with the majority of victims in Lagos (68) and Abuja (21). However, with the imposed lockdown on these “high-risked” Nigerian states, the possibility of containing and controlling the spread of COVID-19 pandemic is likely to be favorable. 

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