‘My Biggest Focus Now Is Security And Welfare’ – Sanwo-Ola After Buhari’s Lockdown Extension

Babajide Sanwo-Ola, Governor of Lagos state, on Tuesday, says his biggest focus now is on security and welfare for Lagosians, after President Muhammadu Buhari announced a two weeks extension of the lockdown.

Sanwo-Ola said that the extra 14-days lockdown was “a tough decision but like we have seen in countries that couldn’t stop the spread of #COVID19, the effects have been catastrophic”.

“On security, there have been reports of pockets of insecurity across different areas and intelligence has shown a combination of exploitation by criminal elements. The Police have been responsive but in the last 24 hours we have worked to increase surveillance and response time.

“On welfare, the second half of the first phase of our reformed #LagosFoodRelief distribution which is targeted at the vulnerable is on course. The federal government’s conditional cash transfer has also begun to help reduce the burden and we are working on doing more.

“We are encouraged by the success rate of our isolation and treatment initiatives for #COVID19. Working with the Nigeria Centre for Diseases Control and the Lagos State Ministry of Health, testing capacity for #COVID19 has increased and we will continue to do all we can to stop the spread of the virus.

“As a state, we understand that this lockdown will stretch us because of some structural problems we are contending with, however I want to thank Lagosians for rising up with empathy and strength. We have to do more and the government will do more, let’s beat #COVID19 together”, the governor added.