Atiku wants Nigerian Government to give families N10,000 to stay at home

Former Nigeria vice president Atiku Abubakar on Wednesday asked the Federal Government to give every Nigerian family in the country N10,000 to make them stay at home.

“At an approximate 30 million households or thereabouts, the government should devise modalities to distribute N10,000 as a supplement for foodstuff to each household, among other palliative measures, with no one left behind,” Atiku said in a Medium post.

“It is thus time for the National Assembly to reconvene in an emergency session, perhaps by teleconference (in line with the demands of social distancing), to legislate a Stimulus Package Act that will cater for all Nigerian citizens.”

The Nigerian government may shut down the country to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Already 51 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Nigeria as at Thursday morning.

To prevent a further spread, the federal government and state governments have already ordered workers to work from home and urged private companies to follow suit.

Lagos State has ordered that markets and some commercial enterprises will to shut down from Thursday to contain the spread.

But many Nigerians fear of an impending shut down of the country for economic reasons.

Atiku said that it will be difficult to keep Nigerians at home without the government providing for their needs at the time of the global pandemic.

He said his company Priam Group has pledged N50 million as a contribution to a relief fund that will form part of the stimulus package for all Nigerians.

The former vice president advised “all Mobile Telephony Companies in Nigeria to urgently develop mobile money platforms so that the government can reach the unbanked with financial assistance.

“I also urge these telecommunications firms to offer each of the 100 million mobile phone lines in Nigeria free credit of at least ₦1500 per mobile line, so that Nigerians who show symptoms, or those who just want information, can call the nearest available health facility, or even an ambulance service, as the case may be.

“In essence, this is what makes Nigeria great, when we help each other at such crisis times as this, irrespective of any differences. I further call on more corporations and individuals with capacity, to assist the public in these trying times.”