The 36-state governors under the aegis of Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) have reached a decision to support a total lockdown of inter-state movement as a measure to contain the spread of COVID-19. The governors reached the consensus in a meeting held via video conferencing on Wednesday.

This is coming in the eve that Nigeria recorded 873 cases of coronavirus that has resulted in 28 deaths.

Chairman of the NGF, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, said in a statement said the increasing number of cases spreading to states has necessitated the decision of the governors.

Fayemi said that among other decisions made by the governors is to set up regional COVID-19 committees that will be headed by health commissioners.

So far, 13 states in Nigeria have confirmed cases of coronavirus, and the way it is going, more states are going to be affected in no time. The director of the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu has earlier warned that the pandemic will touch every state in the country. He said on Monday that president Buhari will make a very difficult decision next week. That and the recent rate of spread have prompted the governors to converge and decide on the next line of action.

The federal government initiated lockdown about three weeks ago, covering the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Lagos and Ogun states, with exemption of movement for those handling essential services. Some states have also shut borders and restricted inter-state movements.

The number of new states affected in three weeks suggests that inter-state movement across the country is fueling the spread, though the governors said essential services will be allowed.

The WHO has seriously advocated lockdown as one of the best ways to quell the virus.

With Nigeria poorly prepared to take on the pandemic, her best shot is to stop the spread. While the governors appear to have taken the right step, there is doubt they have what it takes to keep the people at home.

Governor Benedict Ayade of Cross River State had earlier said that further extension of the lockdown will give room for uncontrollable youth restiveness.

“With prices of oil falling, locking out is far better than locking down because another two weeks of lockdown will find this country under siege by young people. There is no way you can hold down these young energies for too long.

“It is demographic, it is statistics. 65% percent of the population is below the age of 35 and the virus itself does not have penetrative force in such demography and that is what we have to recognize as a country,” he said.

Apart from governor Ayade, who has shown consistency in distribution of palliatives in his state, others have woefully fallen short. The Cross River State governor has given an emergency employment to 8,000 youths in the state who he placed on N30,000 monthly salary, as part of efforts to cushion the hardship effects the pandemic will bring on Cross Riverians. Other than that, he has distributed tons of food items to over 140,000 households in the state.

But in his opinion, that is not enough. Other governors apparently are not prepared for what has come, and lack the funding, and infrastructure capacity to confront the exigencies.

In Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s effort to provide relief to the people in state has been something Lagosians don’t want to reckon with. Last week, Sanwo-Olu said the State Government will be serving a square meal per day to 100,000 youths in each Local Development Council (LCDA) in the State. Reports from residents of the LCDAs said the feeding program has been everything short of what the governor promised.

In other states, though they have lower or no cases of COVID-19 yet, their financial capability to remedy the implication of inter-state travel is close to none. The Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has drastically reduced due to plummeted crude oil price. In March, the federal government, states and Local Governments shared N780,926 billion which appears to be the highest amount that will be shared in months from now as Nigeria is currently paying consumers to buy its oil. With the states, apart from Lagos, totally dependent on FAAC, paying workers will be difficult not to talk of providing palliatives for their citizens.

A large number of businesses are going to be severely affected, including those in inter-state transport services. with no little or no hope for revenue generation in the coming months, Nigerians have been advised to prepare for the worst.

The Igbos have an adage that says that when hills learn to break an old woman’s waist, old women learn to take breaks every now and then as they climb hills. This adage is the same thing as saying that when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. I found these sayings appropriate enough to describe what Nigerian traders, especially those in Abakpa Market, Enugu, are doing to sustain themselves during this lockdown.

The worries of every Nigerian at the onset of this lockdown were focused on how Nigerians, especially those that live out of daily incomes, will survive. People complained and cried out bitterly even though they knew the lockdown was for the good of everybody. With time, everywhere became quiet as if people had accepted their fate and gone into starvation. But that was not the case. The truth is that people have discovered how to survive within this lockdown, though they might be endangering their lives and that of those around them.

One of the fears of the numerous Nigerians that went into panic-buying before the lockdown order took effect was that markets will be shut down completely. Even the broadcast of the president that essential services and foodstuff selling will continue did not quell this fear. It was total madness in Enugu on Monday, 31 March, 2020 as people rushed to markets to buy everything they see, even the ones they will not use in the next four months. ATMs also received their share of the madness because some people withdrew money as if ATMs will also be on lockdown. But a few days into the lockdown taught those of us in Enugu the difference between lockdown and shutdown.

The lockdown order issued by Enugu State government affected some traders. Those that do not sell foodstuff were compelled to close shops. This means that buyers cannot go to markets to buy non-edibles and sellers of these goods are banned from operating within this period. But did they obey that instruction? Well that is the essence of this article.

Kindly understand that this essay does not have the intention to witch-hunt anyone. Its sole purpose is to reveal how traders here in Enugu are surviving the lockdown. Hopefully the information will help some people who might need to adopt their methods. So here are these traders’ ways of observing the mandatory lockdown order:

• Renting Out their Shop Fronts: Most of these traders that couldn’t sell within this period rented the fronts of their shops to food stuff sellers. The good thing about this is that as the shop owners make little money from renting their shop fronts, those that rented them saw where to sell their wares. Some of the people that sell things at these shop fronts are not career traders, but people displaced from work because of COVID-19. So in essence, they have found the means of keeping body and soul together until this is over.
• Hanging Around: This was the first thing I noticed when I went to market within this lockdown. I was surprised to see some of my “customers” that were not supposed to be in the market sitting in front of their locked shops and chatting with their neighbours that were also seated at the front of their own shops. It was later that I realised that these people did not come out of their houses to look around and chat; they were waiting for customers. What they do is that if you need something they have, they will unlock their shops, hand it to you and then lock up again. The only thing here is that price haggling takes place before the customer sees what he’s paying for.
• Selling Early in the Morning and Late in the Evening: Some of these shop owners open their shops very early in the morning and late in the evening to sell. Immediately they settle their customers early in the morning, they lock up their shops and then sell in trickles until evening.

It is true that non-compliance with the lockdown order will increase the spread of COVID-19, but people need to eat and take care of other necessities. Since the government cannot provide those things for them, the citizens have to go out to fend for themselves. However, it should be understood that Enugu has no active case of COVID-19 presently. Maybe that is why people still move around despite the lockdown.