On Saturday being 28th Match 2020, Ourworldgist reporter, Abigail, went round the city of Lokoja to see how Lokoja’s Residents are complying with “stay at home order” as issued by Kogi State government over coronavirus out break and she brought back this narration.
” At about 9:45am on Saturday, I was at popular Ganaja junction where I felt should look deserted following the state government order, but to my amazement, the junction remains busy as ever as people were seen going about their normal activities with high vehicular movement coming from phase two axis and also from Ganaja village.
My curiosity prompted me to ask a passerby: According to one Motor Mechanic who identified himself as Mr Onimisi, when asked why he was not observing “stay at home order” by Kogi State government over coronavirus out break, he says, ” Governor Bello is just issuing order because other Governors are doing so. How can you say people should stay at home without having a befitting isolation centre or putting palliative measures ( food or beverages for the people at home) in place to cushion the effect of hardship people might face arising from this “stay at home order?” In Borno and some other states, I saw their state Governors sharing food and empathizing with their people but Governor Bello is sitting down in his office issuing empty order without doing the right thing. Madam! Time is against me, and whether you are a journalist or not, I don’t want to know as I am going for my daily bread and nobody can stop me…” So, Mr Onimisi walked away angrily.
As I went round the city, it seemed the residents of Lokoja had formed consensus opinion before my ‘opinion pull’ as their reactions were nothing but semblance of one narration to other.
Also at popular kpata Market, along Lokoja – Abuja road, when asked one Fisher seller identified as Hajiya Talatu if she was aware of “stay at home order” by Kogi State Government, she reacted this way: “Yes, I am aware, I heard it on Radio Kogi Fm94.1 and my daughter who does Facebook also told me that she saw it on Facebook. But, Madam, as far as I am concerned and others you are seeing around here, ” that Governor Bello’s order ends on Facebook and on Radio Kogi as he has done nothing about “food security” to enable us stay at home. I know he likes lip service but let me assure him that nobody would adhere to his order as we must all go out to find something to eat. Madam, you can see, my customers are waiting and I need to attend to them… Please, No Vex” bye, bye for now!”
As I walked away feeling convinced that Lokoja’s residents were not harking to Governor Bello’s order, I saw a clean man on Okada that I stopped to ride me to my house and because of how neat he was looking, I was tempted to ask again why he was doing Okada without observing stay at home order by the state Government. This is what he had to say, ” My Sister, I begged on the condition of anonymity because I am a civil servant with Kogi State government on level twelve and as civil servant, I will be marked as an enemy of the government if I speak nothing but the truth with my full identity. Like I said, I am a civil servant with five children and a wife; now, government has issued “stay at home order” but did you people care to find out from the government what and what she has put in place to serve as palliative measure? Today is 28th of March 2020 and I am yet to get my salary. So, I should stay at home for hunger to kill me and my family? If I may ask, what do they want people at home to eat during this period if we should all observe stay at home order? Other state governments have paid salaries and they are even giving palliative measures to help cushion the effect of stay at home order. Please, if I may ask again, what is Governor Bello giving the people of Kogi State? It may interest you to know that Kogi’s Isolation centre is enough to cause serious pandemic as the place is not hygienic neither habitable. My Sister, I prefer to die on this Okada than to obey Governor Bello’s Stay At Home Order and die of hunger with my family. God forbid ma! ”
So in a nutshell, the people of Kogi State are not observing stay at home order by Governor Bello over coronavirus out break.
As our reporter was trying to round up this report, she also came along a post by a social media influencer and also a journalist in the State, Ahmmed Shabba who sarcastically alluded that Kogi People are not observing “stay at home order” by Kogi State Government. See the screenshot below.
