FG to Release New COVID-19 Directives on Movement, Labour, Communities Today
The Presidential Task Force, PTF, on COVID-19 and SGF, Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, on Wednesday, said new regulations, based on the task force’s recommendations, will be released tomorrow, Thursday, as soon as President Muhammadu Buhari gives his approval.
Mustapha stated this while briefing newsmen after he submitted the interim report on the current state of lockdown and recommendations to the President. He said the President was happy with the content of the report and the work the PTF was doing, stressing that all the members are committed and have exhibited the highest form of professionalism in dealing with affairs.
Asked about the content of the interim report and the recommendations, he said: “PTF will focus on three thematic areas in contending further the spread of the virus. “It will be premature for me to talk about it because we submitted a report; we have submitted recommendations and so we have to leave for Mr. President to make a decision.
“By the time I receive his approvals on the recommendations we have made, we will be able to speak to the Nigerian people tomorrow(Thursday). “But I can give you a little bit of an insight as to where we are going. And that is informed by three thematic areas.
One has to deal with movement, two have to deal with labour and industries and three has to do with communities’ activities. “These are already three thematic areas that our recommendations would be driven by; what will happen in these three basic areas going forward.
“We are conscious of our recommendations, as the PTF, to have a balance of lives and to see that even where we have allowed for opening, that the protocols we have put in place are properly implanted. “For example, if we say schools can open for the purposes of exiting examinations, we know the dangers that are inherent in that decision.
“But can we perpetually keep our children away from their learning processes and in the process stagnate their own developmental growth?
“We are handing over this nation to them and we must prepare them for leadership.
“But there are protocols that were put in place and I am glad that the Minister of State for Education is going round to ensure that the protocols that we have advised one month ago are in place. “Initially, the ministry said Federal Government colleges were out of it.
But now, everybody is on board as a result of negotiations, meetings and making sure that whatever we eventually put in place is for the good of our wards. “That is a typical example of where we are going. We have worked in the areas of movement; we have allowed for domestic flights.
“But you realize that they were done in phases. We started with two. We went to five, then 14. As different airports in different cities are able to meet up with the demands and protocols that we have put in place, they will open.”
Ayooluwa Joshua