COVID-19: Labour minister speaks against impending total lockdown in Nigeria

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo has aired his personal opinion, speaking against any plan to further place the country on total lockdown as a measure to curtail the spread of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Festus Keyamo took to his official Twitter handle on Sunday to say another total lockdown would be counterproductive, stressing that before defeating the Coronavirus, “we must learn to live with it”.

Recall that following the outbreak of COVID-19 in Nigeria, the federal government has taken several measures to curtail it, including ordering restriction on movement, leading to a total lockdown of the nation.

Recently, the total lockdown was eased with certain guidelines that must be strictly adhered to. But for the flouting of the guidelines, the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 (PTFCOVID19) has threatened to re-order a total lockdown.


However, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment believes that another total lockdown will not do the country any good.

“My personal view is that another total lockdown would be counterproductive. Before defeating the virus, we must learn to live with it all around us & practice the skills of avoiding it like a landmine. Practice makes perfect. We cannot perfect those skills by locking ourselves up,” he said.

My personal view is that another total lockdown would be counterproductive. Before defeating the virus, we must learn to live with it all around us & practice the skills of avoiding it like a landmine. Practice makes perfect. We cannot perfect those skills by locking ourselves up

— Festus Keyamo, SAN (@fkeyamo) May 10, 2020

Earlier, Festus Keyamo had urged all workers to take charge of their environments and not assume that others take precautions against the virus.

“Do not assume others have taken the necessary precautions. Do it yourself. The virus is not defeated. Every object, every surface is a suspect. Just imagine the virus is everywhere,” Keyamo charged.