Coronavirus: Buhari must halt flights from China, Italy – Atiku

Atiku Abubakar

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

Nigeria’s former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has called on President Muhammadu Buhari’s government to defeat Coronavirus with the same zeal the nation fought Ebola outbreak in 2014.

He said the Buhari’s government must temporarily halt flights to and from any nation with a prevalence of this scourge.

Atiku, in a statement on Friday said now that Nigeria has had her first confirmed case of the Corona Virus infestation, via a citizen of Italy, who visited Lagos and Ogun states, the Buhari’s government “must call upon our experience with the Wild Ebola Virus, of which we were the first nation in the world to defeat that scourge in 2014. How did Nigeria do it? We achieved it by showing unprecedented unity.

“The federal government of the day worked closely with the Lagos and Rivers state governments. There was complete unity, solidarity and oneness of purpose, which created the atmosphere that defeated that deadly infestation. I strongly counsel that any tendency to blame and point fighters must be temporarily, if not permanently, suspended. If fingers must be pointed, it must be to solutions.

“Nigeria needs firm and decisive actions to prevent an escalation of the scourge. Recently, we closed our borders as an act against economic sabotage. Perhaps now is the time to temporarily halt flights to and from any nation with a prevalence of this scourge. It is more important to secure human lives than to secure an economy. We also need to invest in early detection facilities at our airports.”

Atiku added that above all, Nigeria must not panic, whether at government or individual levels, as the nation had  defeated Ebola before, and could defeat this present predicament.

“This crisis is an opportunity to show that we are first and foremost Nigerians and that we have no other country but our dear fatherland, which we must work together to keep healthy and secure,” he said.