Some residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have said that while some persons were in strict compliance with the safety guidelines by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), some were indifferent.
Chief Ugochukwu Nnam, President of Initiative for Leadership Development and Change (ILDC), an Abuja-based NGO, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday that many people doubt the existence of the pandemic.
Nnam, who said that he and his family were committed to all the safety guidelines, decried the unsafe attitude of some Nigerians toward the pandemic.
“Many people today don’t care even in churches and gatherings, they don’t wear face masks, while some wear the mask on their chins instead of the face.
“I wonder if they really know the dangers of this pandemic, I wonder if they know that countries like Germany have entered into another phase of lockdown.
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“As for me and my family, we use our face masks, I gave hand sanitizers to all my children as they go to school, I ensure they wash hands regularly even in their school through a steady reminder to their teachers,” he said.
Mrs Ogechi Osuoha, a teacher, called for intensive advocacy to change the perception of people about COVID-19, especially in the markets.
Osuoha, who emphasised the imperatives of sensitisation and awareness to contain community spread, said that the carelessness of market women could trigger another phase of community infection.
“Many of the women in the market don’t use face masks not to talk of washing hands or hand sanitisers before or after selling or buying.
“This is why I use my hand sanitisers always and cover my nose because many of them even sneeze freely while attending to a customer.”
Mr Nurudeen Ahmed, a resident, blamed the indifference on ignorance and some sort of cultural beliefs.
Ahmed said that he had at a time doubted the existence of the pandemic until he witnessed those that died of the disease.
“Honestly, I used to live my life freely without protection until I heard of a person I know well that died of symptoms and complications from the disease in Spain.”
Mr Nelson Udunna, a laboratory scientist, said that the pandemic was real and capable of wiping out communities.
Udunna said that he had cultivated the culture of washing his hands more than four times a day as well as protecting his nose and mouth with face masks whenever he mingled with other people.
He decried the manner some persons have thrown caution to the wind by not observing the safety rules.
“I went to one of the fruit markets here in Abuja, I discovered that it was only me and two other persons that wore our masks and I was shocked.”
NAN reports that COVID-19 is still taking its death toll even as the world intensifies efforts at containing it with the latest vaccine inventions among others.
According to the National Centre for Disease Control, Nigeria presently, has 64,996 confirmed cases, 61,029 discharged cases, and 1,163 deaths.
With the increase in testing centres from 200 to about 1,000 centres, Nigeria has recorded 705,809 samples with 2,864 active cases.
