Kunle Oyatomi
Lockdown having become the order of the day in the face of the war against the Covid-19 pandemic, the people of the State of Osun cannot but make the best out of these trying times. One sure option available for the populace is to stay on the same page with the authorities vested with the onerous task of coordinating the multi-layered responsibilities of taming the scourge.
When we talk of being on the same page with our leaders, what we mean simply is that we all should be in the trenches with the government to battle this virus. The extension by another 14 days just announced by Governor Gboyega Oyetola should therefore be seen as the response of an administration truly determined to deliver its people from a rampaging virus, despite the seemingly harrowing anguish of prolonged stay indoors that the governor’s recipe presents in his broadcast.
There is a lot of succor in Oyetola’s address to the people. There is no despair as many people suggest. Take this for instance. “The decision to impose a lockdown on the State was a painful one, but its outcomes have proven that we took the best decision as no new case was recorded during the two-week total lockdown period…We are aware of the negative effects of lockdown on our fragile economy…(Therefore) we shall continue to provide palliatives for the poor, the needy, and the vulnerable people in our State to cushion the effects of the sit-at-home order.’’
The governor’s position reminds me of the difficult situation in which Ghana’s JJ Rawlings found himself and the country in his second coming as military ruler in the 80s. He had to introduce quite harsh policies to deal with the deteriorating socioeconomic and political conditions he met on the ground on returning to power in a military coup. Repeatedly, he told local and international journalists: ‘’The pill is bitter, but it must be taken for Ghana to recover.’’
Did Ghana recover as a result of swallowing Rawlings’ medicine? Of course it did. Even beyond expectations. There is abiding evidence that the respect the nation enjoys today can be traced to the tough measures JJ Rawlings rolled out in those difficult times.
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The APC administration of Governor Oyetola is similarly resorting to decisive moves to salvage the people of Osun during the time of Covid-19 pandemic.
So, we should without any hesitation dismiss the position of the opposition PDP that Oyetola is ‘insensitive’ to the condition of the citizens the coronavirus season. PDP’s stand is myopic, to say the least.
We need to hail the APC administration for its prompt response to preserve lives in this war against an unseen enemy. To have delayed action would have spelt cataclysmic doom. God forbid!
Kunle Oyatomi, spokesman of the APC , Osun State Chapter, wrote I from Osogbo.
