The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has urged state governments to take the lead in the sensitisation of rural communities on COVID-19, as advocated by President Muhammadu Buhari.
NOA’s Director-General, Garba Abari, who briefed newsmen on Thursday in Abuja, said that community mobilisation and sensitisation remained a major route to stopping the spread of the pandemic.
Abari, while appraising NOA’s efforts in the fight against the virus in Nigeria, regretted that many state governments were not supporting NOA’s sensitisation efforts with logistics, equipment, information, education and communication materials.
He, however, appreciated some state governments and organisations that had supported the agency in realising its important role in community sensitisation.
Abari also appealed to state governors to support NOA state offices in community awareness campaign on COVID-19 pandemic.
According to him, Nigerians have shown persistent disobedience to COVID-19 prevention protocols, especially in the cities where adherence to the protocols was high in the initial two weeks after the ease in the lockdown.
“Citizens are letting down their guards and this is a cause of grave concern.
“The disbelief of the danger and impact of COVID-19 still persists among some sections of Nigerians, despite being aware of the disease.
“Expression like “there is no COVID-19 in Nigeria,” and “our religious leaders say COVID-19 is not real” are commonly used in expressing this disbelief.
READ ALSO: Insecurity: NOA Holds Peace Building Workshop For North Central
“There are many myths about the COVID-19 pandemic. Some people insist that some persons are using the pandemic to make quick gains.
“There are also claims of certain herbal concoctions being sure cures for Covid-19. NOA officials on sensitisation mission keep grappling with such myths.
“Many religious centres, especially in the cities, are complying with the protocols on worship gathering, though there are still some whose compliance levels are less than commendable.
“Efforts must be geared toward enforcing the protocols in places of worship,” Abari said.
The NOA boss commended the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 for consistently providing information and guidelines that had sustained the fight against the disease, leading to lower death rates in Nigeria.
Abari reiterated his earlier call on Nigerians to strictly observe the hygiene and safety measures approved by health authorities, to avoid contracting the virus during the partial lockdown.
He lamented that a lot of Nigerians had demonstrated unfortunate disregard for social distancing, use of face masks, stay-at-home order for non-essential workers and other safety measures, since the commencement of the partial lockdown.
He added that such risky behaviour could be detrimental to the fight against COVID-19 as it could expose many to contracting the virus.
He urged Nigerians to take personal responsibility for their protection against the virus by adhering strictly to prescribed guidelines, protocols and precautions.
