Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Swift Air Ambulance Services Ltd, Mallam Abdulazeez Yinka-Oniyangi, has warned Nigerian authorities against relaxing the lockdown without making adequate provisions for massive testing for Coronavirus across the states.
Oniyangi also bemoaned the alleged poor treatment of Nigeria’s health practitioners since the outbreak of the pandemic, regretting that the horrible treatment meted out to them had subjected to them to avoidable danger and deaths.
He said: “Glad enough, no one is travelling anywhere. We are all on this together. Money doesn’t work anymore. I have it also on very strong record our health workers are badly and horribly treated and exposed to the virus at the frontline without adequate tools as simple as PPEs, now this explains why 40 health workers tested positive.
“Isn’t it scary? These are people we should hero worship but yet treated with disdain.”
Oniyangi, a medical aviation expert, who spoke through a telephone chat, posited that the ongoing war against the killer virus required more actions now than ever before.
Reviewing efforts geared towards containing the pandemic, Oniyangi hinted that the available statistics suggested that the Nigerian situation was still scary, even as he called for more commitment on the part of government.
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He said: “Countries like the United Arabs Emirates (UAE), which is far less in population than Nigeria, as at yesterday (Tuesday) has tested one million people, which explains why lockdown got relaxed.
“How many have we done in Nigeria? Look at the disparity and that tells us the looming crisis.
“Kano is on the precipice of disaster. I am not sure the government is getting it right unless they decentralise the testing locations and increase the capacity for test kits.
“This isn’t looking too good. Imagine under 24 hours losing so many prominent people.”
He also expressed dissatisfaction about the seeming slow pace of testing occasioned by inadequate testing kits across the country.
Oniyangi urged government to, as matter of urgency, decentralise testing locations and use substantial part of the fund accrued from donations to procure the needed equipment.
