From Dan Maduagwu,
Umuahia
In its efforts to assist the Government to halt the spread of the second wave of Coronavirus, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) in Abia State has moved to engage the critical stakeholders in the state to a high level advocacy.
The agency has also embarked on a 13 weeks exposition with the local radio stations in Abia State to ensure that the message of Coronavirus pandemic prevention gets to the doorsteps of Abia residents.
Speaking during the programme, the state director of NOA, Lady Ngozi Okechukwu, pointed out that the agency will partner with the relevant bodies in the state, particularly the mass media, as she rightly put it, “we cannot afford to lose the gains made in the last 13 weeks. Rather we shall redouble our efforts.
Okechukwu said, “We are now redoubling our efforts to stem the chains of transmission. The Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 has informed us that we are potentially in the difficult phase of COVID-19 Resurgence. The risks in this second phase are higher. Therefore, with no confirmed permanent immunity, it became pertinent for NOA to redouble efforts in sensitization”.
The Abia NOA boss decried that the behavioural pattern towards COVID-19 is poor and somewhat worse in adherence to protocol, “as an Agency that interfaces with the grassroots in all the 774 Local Government Areas of the country, we painstakingly observed that Nigerians are no longer adhering to the safety measures following the ease of the lock down.
This attitude however portends grave danger. Despite the efforts of Government in ensuring that Nigerians are adequately protected from the Virus, most Nigerians have regrettably chosen to become non-chalant and out rightly careless in adhering to the Covid-19 safety guidelines”.
Okechukwu noted that the spread rate of the pandemic is exponentially higher, considering how rapidly the virus spreads, revealing that chances of more people becoming infected at one point is high.
She revealed further that the manner the pandemic is spreading across Nigeria is an indicator that Nigeria still far from defeating the virus.
Her words, “Anxiety rate among citizens are increasing following the higher death rate and The mystery shrouding this phase even as new variants are emerging with some becoming deadlier and more children getting infected.
“Although there are no COVID-19 vaccines yet in Nigeria, several countries have been rolling out doses of available vaccine but even this has done little to stem the rate of infection and reduce the death rate as on now.
“The second wave of COVID-19 has begun to play a major role in other aspects of decision making by affecting our educational, economic and social sectors. It will perpetuate the negative impact we witnessed during the first phase,” she added.
