By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
The National Orientation Agency, NOA, Director General, Dr. Garba Abari has disclosed that his agency has already dispatched the War Against Indiscipline Brigade of the agency to the communities to enforce Nigerians to comply with the COVID-19 prevention protocols.
This was contained in a press release signed by Paul Odenyi, Assistant Director, Press of NOA made available to Daybreak today.
According to the release, Abari the move was necessary to checkmate a further prevalence of the virus during the Yuletide season as Nigerian records 758 new cases of COVID-19.
The message read, “With 758 new COVID-19 cases in Nigeria and a total of 74,132 confirmed cases, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) has warned Nigerians against non-adherence to the prevention protocols of facemask wearing, regular hand washing and physical distancing during the Christmas and New Year period.”
He stressed that the public should take personal responsibility for their own protection from the pandemic and that of their families, noting that the increasing COVID-19 figures in Nigeria are the result of non-compliance to prevention protocols.
Abari advised the public to obey the recent End-of-Year Travel Advisory on COVID-19 issued by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, which urges Nigerians to limit all non-essential travel, especially from high risk countries.
Abari said, “While we celebrate in this Christmas and New Year season, Nigerians should not lose sight of the real and present danger of COVID-19 in our communities. Our country and our loved ones need us alive and healthy in the coming year.”” Therefore, we should limit person-to-person contact by practicing physical distancing. Similarly, the constant wearing of facemask in public and regular hand washing/sanitization should be non-negotiable”.
According to the statement, the DG has directed all State Directors and Community Orientation and Mobilization Officers, COMOs, of the Agency to visit Churches, Mosques, traditional rulers and community gatherings in their respective States and communities, in the coming week leading up to Christmas, to sustain the sensitization on COVID-19 prevention. In addition, he said where any State Director or COMO is denied access to any of these locations for sensitization, such officer is to issue a clearly worded letter to the leadership of such organization communicating the dangers of non-compliance to COVID-19 protocols in their organization and copying same to the Agency’s National Headquarters
He also called on Churches, Mosques, traditional rulers, community leaders and social organizations to ensure that COVID-19 prevention protocols are strictly complied with in all programmes and activities within their purview during the yuletide.
