The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, PACAC, Prof. Itse Sagay, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to lock down the country for a minimum of two months, to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Constitutional Lawyer, hinged his call on the violation by Nigerians of the safety directives issued by the federal Government, as a means of curtailing the spread of the disease in the country, during the ease of the lockdown.
Sagay also advised that Military men should be allowed to patrol the streets and arrest anyone found on the streets, except essential workers.
Recounting his experience, Sagay stated that he observed that 50 percent of those he saw failed to wear their face masks, while about 25 percent of people simply hung it on their necks, without covering their faces.
He added that most commercial buses were filled up, while many Banks and major bus stops were crowded, as people flagrantly violated the social distancing order.
His words: “Nigerians are the most undisciplined people on earth. I went out after 6 weeks today, and in spite of all that have been said, the pleas by the government, I saw them in their thousands and hundreds of thousands, more than 50 percent of them without wearing masks.
“Out of the 50 carrying masks, 25 percent had it on their necks, instead of their faces. Only about 25 percent were wearing the masks properly. Buses were filled, people were in crowds, and they were just behaving as if nothing has happened, as if there is no coronavirus pandemic in the country, as if everything is normal.
“So, it is an impossible country, because these people are so massively undisciplined. Unless we have a government that decides to use power and authority without any constraint, we will not achieve any result.
“The way I see it, with the way Nigerians are behaving, we may have to be quarantined for like two months by force. Aside from the lockdown, we should have Security men patrolling the streets, and inflicting the worst type of punishment on anybody who violates the directive.
“So, for me, Nigeria is a country that needs a very strong hand, that needs authoritarian leadership for many things to succeed. If I were the President, I will close down this country for two months, and put armed men on the streets to stop, arrest, and detain anybody who is found outside except essential workers”, he said.