Point One

It looked like an eon in the scheduling, but it is finally here. The second 14-day lockdown imposed by presidential order on Lagos and Ogun states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) owing to the raging Covid-19 pandemic expires this Monday night. The presidential order had applied explicitly to the three jurisdictions, but some other states across the country took a cue and declared their own lockdowns. Thus, the nation is faced almost collectively with next steps. As at the time of writing this piece, those next steps had not been unveiled. Nigeria is yet to turn the bend towards flattening the curve of the novel coronavirus infections; hence, it would be delusory to expect the lockdown restrictions would be thrown off at this time. Indeed, the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) only mid-last week solicited that a fresh two-week presidential lockdown be imposed – not just on the jurisdictions considered local epicentres of the pandemic but on all 36 states of the federatio...

For residents of suburban communities of Lagos and Ogun states, life at present is pendent between the rock and a hard place. These residents are grounded and shuttered in like everybody else across much of Nigeria, courtesy of the lockdown over the Covid-19 pandemic that got renewed for another 14-day period early last week by President Muhammadu Buhari. Their economic and social lives are severely hobbled by near-paralysis occasioned by the compulsory stay-at-home order issued by government to ensure social distancing aimed at flattening the pandemic curve. But lately, these residents could hardly stay home with ease or be locked down as mandated by government order. No, they have been forced onto neighbourhood streets – not on willing pursuits to reflate their sagged personal economies, but rather on vigilance tasks necessitated by a siege that bandits have laid on their communities. Border communities in Lagos and Ogun states were mostly affected by the trend...