Oyo State governor, Mr. Seyi Makinde, has said that the State would explore the possibility of home-grown remedies for the prevention and cure of COVID-19.
According to him, since Nigerians had in the past treated flu, catarrh and cough with local remedies in ways different from the Western world, the state would look in that direction for a cure for the coronavirus.
A statement signed by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Taiwo Adisa, quoted him as saying these on Wednesday, during a briefing after a meeting of the State’s COVID-19 Task Force, held at the Government House, Agodi, Ibadan.
The governor also disclosed that as part of efforts to contain the spread of Coronavirus in the State, the government was already working on the passage of laws that would compel the use of face masks.
He also said that the state hoped to be able to test 10,000 residents within the shortest possible time very soon even as efforts to set up two additional testing centres are ongoing.
The governor, who stated that from his experience of the virus, boosting of immunity had an important part to play in overcoming it, said that while the State is seeking home-grown solution, it would continue to defer to experts’ opinions.
Furthermore, the Governor disclosed that the state secretariat would be reopened on April 30, after a decontamination exercise which would be commence on April 13.
Governor Makinde said: “We are looking at local solutions. I know that a lot of people have been calling me all sorts of names on the social media but, from my experience, one thing that I know you have to do to conquer the virus is that you have to boost your immunity. We do have local solutions and, of course, we have to defer to experts’ opinion as part of the home-grown solution to deal with COVID-19.
“People may ask if we have been funding the research institutes very well. They may even ask if we are in a position to bring any kind of solution to the world. My answer is yes. Even chewing something like bitter-cola. When the Western world is having flu season, they have flu shots. But here, we have things like catarrh. When we are crossing over from dry season to rainy season, people almost always fall sick. Cold, cough, catarrh, we have ways of dealing with all of these locally.
“So, except a solution comes from the Western or Eastern world, I won’t say that we cannot deal with it. I believe we have the capacity. We have the intellect to look at things that work locally and we will keep encouraging that. We have the capacity to also validate some of the results that we are going to be getting.
“They did clinical trials for chloroquine and some other medications but these are things we take normally here. So, we are not ruling out local solution to this pandemic.
“We have made arrangement to decontaminate the Oyo State Secretariat and this will take place next week; between Monday, April 13th and Wednesday, April 15th. Thereafter, the secretariat will be opened on Monday, April 20th.
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“The team in charge of the decontamination are sending letters to religious leaders, traditional rulers, private organisations to decontaminate their facilities, using standardised decontaminants.
“We are also considering rapid testing, two additional centres to enable us map behaviour of the virus as far as the state is concerned.
“The NCDC protocol is being followed at the approved virology laboratory in UCH. For those two additional centres, they discussed a protocol to be followed and I believe the experts are working on that. Once we have alignment on the protocol to be followed, we will roll this out, and our aspiration to test up to 10,000 people in Oyo State within the shortest possible time will be realized.
The modelling of the state epidemiologist will help us decide the next step regarding the curfew and reopening of schools.”
On the issue of palliatives for the vulnerable in the State, Gov. Makinde said the State would begin the distribution of palliatives within the next one week, stating, however, that the palliatives will target the poorest of the poor.
“We will roll out palliatives for the poorest of the poor within the next one week.
“We are also working on a law to make the wearing of mask in public compulsory as one of the measures to slow down the spread of the virus. I know that, sometimes, it may not be comfortable but if we have to go through the discomfort to slow down the virus from spreading, we will make laws to ensure this is done,” Makinde said.
The Governor also expressed appreciation to corporate organisations and individuals for their donations towards the state’s COVID-19 Endowment Fund, stating that the state has already realised close to N200 million.
“So, I want to use this opportunity to thank everyone that has given us support and pitched in to help us fight this pandemic. And for those who are yet to donate or support us, this is an opportunity to do so.
“On behalf of the government and the people of Oyo State, I say thank you once again. And I also thank those who are thinking about it and yet to bring their support, because I know they will eventually do the needful,” he said.
The governor, further commended the members of the Oyo State COVID-19 Task Force for their hard work, adding that the isolation process for the two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 had already been initiated while contact tracing and collection of samples have commenced.