COVID-19: President Buhari To Address The Nation Today

President Muhammadu Buhari will address the nation Monday, April 27, 2020 at 8pm.

Buhari had in his March 29 and April 13, 2020 speeches, settled for a restriction that focused on Lagos, Ogun States and Abuja in his containment strategy for COVID-19 pandemic.

The extended lockdown in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja expires today, Monday 27, April.

Announcing the would-be broadcast, presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, in a terse statement urged television, radio and other electronic media stations to hook up to the network services of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) respectively for the broadcast.

Given the alarming spike of COVID-19 to other parts of the nation, the President is expected to use today’s broadcast to address national gaffes exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

BIGPEN had urged Mr President in its recent COVID-19 EDITORIAL, to rise up in support of the recent Fayemi-led NGF’s belated but nonetheless commendable plan for two-weeks states-wide lockdown and inter-states movement blockade to prevent spread of the Corona virus.

Among others, the editorial comment called for a more robust national response strategy that would see all states rising up to the challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic and forestall situation where cases in Lagos and Abuja are contained only for the disease to explode in other states of the nation as already happening.

“We urge Mr President to rise up with a national response against the pandemic. There is no time than now! This is the only way he can halt the virus in its tracks and achieve the second avowed “objective” of the battle against COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria-protecting the interests of business owners and survival of the ordinary people”, the editorial comment reads.