The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control has described as needless the decision of the House of Representatives to suspend plenary for two weeks.
Speaking when he appeared on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Tuesday, The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, said such move by members of the lower chamber will instigate panic and send wrong signal to Nigerians.
The NCDC boss said, “I have all the respect for the honourable members. They represent Nigerians, they express the anxieties of Nigerians across the country but I think the time has not come (to suspend plenary).
“If they respond by suspending sessions, everyone else will begin to think ‘should I close my business?’, ‘should I close my office?’, ‘should I close my school? It is disproportionate at this time. I think what the honourable members should do is supporting the work we are doing; the technical work that the experts are doing. Give us your support; give us a sustainable budget so that we can develop the expertise”
He said the members ought to have sought the advice of medical practitioners, adding that he would have advised them against such move because it would be too early to carry out such measure.
“Ask us for advice so that we can advise you on what to do. If I were asked, I would tell them that it is too early to carry out a measure like that. They need to express by their actions and words, confidence in the government institutions that they have set up and which is their mandate to fund.”
Ihekweazu, who has been in self-isolation for the last one week since returning from China, asked Nigerians to tackle falsehood and misinformation urging them to only sharing information from the official channels.
“Cures are found through collective scientific effort and not from my mother’s pot in the village,” the NCDC boss said.
The NCDC boss added that some proactive measures like the presence of thermal scanners at the airports was not enough to prevent the outbreak of coronavirus, adding that it takes conscious effort of all stakeholders and Nigerians at large.