Garba Shehu, senior special assistant to President Muhammadu
Buhari on media and publicity, has called on Nigerians to disregard Nobel
laureate Wole Soyinka’s reservations on the lockdown in Lagos, Abuja and Ogun
states.
Shehu said Soyinka’s qualifications are in English
literature and not medicine or science, stating that he does not qualify to be
judged as a professional on the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
The presidential aide said “perhaps Wole Soyinka may write a
play on the coronavirus pandemic, after this emergency is over. In the
meantime, we ask the people of Nigeria to trust the words of our doctors and
scientists – and not fiction writers – at this time of national crisis.’’
“Yesterday, the esteemed Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka
made comments on the legal status and description of 14-day lockdown announced
by President Muhammadu Buhari,” Shehu wrote in a statement.
“Professor Soyinka is not a medical professor. His
qualifications are in English literature, and his prizes are for writing books
and plays for theatres. He is of course entitled to his opinions – but that is
exactly all they are: semantics, not science. They cannot – and should not –
therefore be judged as professional expertise in this matter in any shape or
form.
“Across the world – from parts of the United States and
China, to countries including the United Kingdom and France, government –
mandated lockdowns are in place to slow and defeat the spread of coronavirus.
“All have been declared, and all have been made necessary,
based on medical and scientific evidence. The guidance of the Nigerian
Government’s medical specialists is to advise the same.”
SHEHU FAULTS SOYINKA’S ASSESSMENT
Soyinka had said Nigeria was not at war, questioning the
powers of the president to close state borders.
Reacting to Soyinka’s statement, Shehu said: “Professor
Soyinka has also declared, doubtless based on his specialism as a playwright,
that: ‘We are not in a war emergency'”.
“Eminent scientists say otherwise: Dr Richard Hatchett, Head
of the International Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (and
former Director of the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development
Authority) has said, ‘War is an appropriate analogy’.
“Professor Anthony Fauci, Director of the United States
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of the White
House Coronavirus Task Force has said of the battle against the pandemic: ‘It’s
almost like the fog of war’.
“As for the legality of the lock down, the Government of
Nigeria’s primary duty in law and action is the defence of the people of
Nigeria. We face a global pandemic. Nigeria is now affected. The scientific and
medical guidance the world over is clear: the way to defeat the virus is to halt
its spread through limitation of movement of people.”
Nigeria has recorded nearly 200 cases of COVID-19 since the
index case was reported in February, 2020.
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