It will not end well for the Buhari administration if Nigerians are stretched to their limits — OYC

It has been looming and could end up badly for the Buhari administration which has chosen to tour the path of the west, but doing it unintelligently.

Asking Nigerians to stay home must have been one of the most difficult decisions ever made by the Buhari administration. We are talking about one of the poorest countries in the world. We are also talking about a people who mostly rely on daily incomes to meet their daily needs. Surely, president Muhammadu Buhari needed no one to tell him how much impact his 'Stay at Home' directive would have on the common man.


But if his aides for some reasons failed to do their jobs, former vice president Atiku Abubakar was among prominent voices to remind the president that Nigerians won't be able to survive this lockdown for long without palliatives to cushion the effects.

He said, "As the coronavirus pandemic ravages the world, I applaud the various Nigerian state governments who have proactively taken measures, such as issuing stay at home orders, and shutting down non-essential markets and other places of mass gatherings, while also giving guidelines for social distancing.



"However, we must accept the fact that much of the Nigerian public have a subsistence existence. A large percentage of our people do not have the financial capacity to withstand long periods of self-isolation and even lockdown. It is, therefore, incumbent on the Federal and state governments to provide palliatives to the Nigerian people to enable them to survive, even as they abide by these necessary measures put in place for their safety."

But President Buhari and his team are yet to decide on who deserves government support despite knowing fully well that its directive to Nigerians was all-inclusive.


Meanwhile, covid-19 cases continue to rise, and stricter measures are being considered and enforced by State governors with the latest being two weeks inter-state lockdown. This would mean Nigerians are being stretched to the limits and revolt is said to be inevitable.

A statement by Oodua Youth Coalition (OYC), through its President, Oluyi Akintade Tayo, and Publicity Secretary, Ajongbolo Oluwagbenga, said it was disheartening that the governors could agree to lockdown in their respective states without recourse to how the people had been living in hunger since the partial lockdown.

The statement reads, "Save for Ondo and Oyo states, the remaining four states in Yoruba land have been on total lockdown for weeks now and the resultant effects are clear to the blind.



"In Lagos and Ogun, criminals are having field and free days terrorising the people and looting their properties.

"Every night, hungry and angry Nigerians, who should be sleeping soundly in their homes, have turned emergency vigilantes while the ones indoors only sleep with one eye closed.

"Unfortunately, there are reports of unreasonable and unnecessary attacks on innocent citizens by security men stationed on major roadblocks in towns and highways.

"It was also reported that the Nigerian Security Forces have killed more person than the Coronavirus itself.”


The OYC observed that the palliatives being shared around by political office holders and government officials were ridiculous and cannot sustain the people.

According to the group, a further lockdown could lead to chaos in the country that government may not be able to curtail.