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WALE ELEGBEDE reports on how the Lagos State House of Assembly has given legal backing to efforts by Governor Babajide Sanwo- Olu to curb the spread of coronavirus in the state
Since Lagos State, Nigeria’s commercial hub became the index state in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa for the coronavirus pandemic, the state has never been the same. Announcing the beginning of what has currently locked down the nation’s melting pot and other parts of the country, the Federal Ministry of Health on Thursday, February 27, confirmed Nigeria’s first case of coronavirus in Lagos.
The index case, an Italian national, who tested positive to the virus, entered Nigeria on February 25 from Milan, Italy for a brief business visit. He subsequently fell ill on February 26 and was transferred to Lagos State Biosecurity Facilities for isolation and testing.
The Lagos State Ministry of Health also said in a statement: “#COVID2019 infection was confirmed by the Virology Laboratory of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital @LUTHofficial, part of the Laboratory Network of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control @NCDCgov.
“The patient is clinically stable, with no serious symptoms, and is being managed at the Infectious Disease Hospital (Mainland Hospital) in Yaba, Lagos.” Since then, Lagos, the state that never sleeps, has lost its balance of free movement, association and relaxation, among others. Cheerfully, the index case has been discharged after testing negative.
At the moment, Lagos accounts for about half the conformed cases in the country, which justifies the saying that when Lagos sneezes, other states cough. However, despite the trepidation and uneasy calm that pervade the city, the state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is diligently leading from the front by taking needful steps to stem the tide of the virus that has brought even some world powers to their knees.
As at Wednesday, April 7, the global record indicates that there are now more than 1.4 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in 183 countries and more than 81,000 people have died. However, there have been over 300,000 recoveries.
The United States has more than twice as many confirmed cases as any other single country and more than half of all the cases have been in Europe, with Spain and Italy worst affected. Leading the battle against the virus as the Incident Commander for COVID-19 in the state, Governor Sanwo-Olu from the first day exerted his leadership, and along with his team, rolled out multiple measures to deal with the disease.
In early March, the government, in an attempt to limit the spread of the virus, issued lockdown measures by banning public gatherings, shuts down public and private schools, and banned any gathering of more than 50 people, especially among religious groups.
Just after that, the governor told civil servants on levels one to 12 in the state to stop going to work for the next two weeks as the state battles the coronavirus pandemic.
Affected workers constitute 70 per cent of the state’s workforce. But workers in emergency and essential services such as healthcare and fire services are not included in the directive. But keeping the government order of social distancing appeared to be a herculean task for law enforcement agencies because there was no legal framework that backed it up.
In a bid to maintain the governor’s regulation for lockdown, the enforcement team had a torrid time majorly because there was no legal backing for the pronouncement.
The Commander of the Rapid Response Squad, Ikeja, Lagos State Police Command, Deputy Commissioner of Police Olatunji Disu, explained how his officers and some journalists were attacked at the Victorious Army International Ministries, located on ACME Road, Ikeja, Lagos State on Sunday while trying to enforce the order of Social Distancing amid the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
The police officer and his men had gone to the church to enforce the directive when they were attacked. Giving insight into regulations, human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, said the federal and state governments cannot stop people from gathering unless a proper legal framework is put in place.
Effiong said in a statement said that in developed countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, the government had to first declare a state of emergency or invoke a provision of the law before asking people to stay indoors.
He said Nigeria must act like a democratic nation rather than a dictatorship. Apparently noting the gap in the process, the Lagos State House of Assembly on March 26 decided to rise up to the occasion by instituting and passing the Emergency Coronavirus Pandemic Bill 2020 into law to combat and stop the spread of the virus in the state.
The bill, “Emergency Coronavirus Pandemic Bill 2020” personally sponsored by the speaker, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, was not only meant to give legal teeth to the various regulations and pronouncement of the governor, it also affords Governor Sanwo-Olu the legislative concurrence to spend an initial N20 billion to effectively contain the virus and enforce compliance by Lagosians.
The bill was presented on the floor of the chamber by the Deputy Majority Leader, Hon. Noheem Adams and was commended by the lawmakers. The bill, which passed through its first, second and third readings during plenary same day, was raised as the business of the day by the Deputy Leader, Hon. Noheem Adams as House Bill No. 8 and has 25 sections.
The bill was later laid before the house by Hakeem Sokunle, chairman of the committee on health, after which it scaled the third reading.The bill gives the governor the opportunity to make recourse back to the House before any regulations.
On his part, Gbolahan Yishawu (Eti-Osa 2), who lent his voice to the issue, explained that Lagos State has to respond very fast to this deadly virus, especially since the first point of contact, was Lagos.
He, however, suggested that the bill should be expanded to accommodate other epidemics; and provision of energy to improvised centres. Also contributing, Hon. Fatai Mojeed (Ibeju Lekki I), counseled that the governor’s pronouncement should be binding on all, including the traditional medicine practitioners, the churches and mosques.
On her part, Hon. Mojisola Meranda, noted that there should be provisions in the law to ensure patients of the virus who might have been certified okay after the treatment should be reabsorbed back into society.
Other lawmakers who contributed were of the view that churches and mosques should be sanitised; victims who survive the pandemic should not be stigmatized by their offices or landlords; government workers should be tested for the virus; forfeiture of properties as punishment for not revealing a coronavirus in one’s property was too harsh; insurance to be provided for the first respondents (doctors and nurses) as well as stipends to be given to unemployed residents amongst others.
The speaker, who concluded the deliberation, explained that the contingency provision in the budget “is not up to this volume. The governor has to start something which he has already started, so as not to act outside the provision of the law.” He added that the quick passage of the bill is apt, stating that “an emergency situation demands an emergency decision.”
He added: “The governor can make recourse back to the House if need be. If the budget procedure takes much time that can’t suffice, the kick-off fund will help.
The trust fund is a makeshift; those in Epe, Ikorodu and Agege need be catered for, medical practitioners who have retired can also be called back to assist, well kitted and equipped.
Empowering the governor to make pronouncement unguarded should not be allowed unchecked.” Having passed the third reading, the House asked the Clerk of the House, Mr. Azeez Sanni, to send a clean copy of the bill to the governor for his assent.
This, Governor Sanwo-Olu did immediately he received the bill. Interestingly, the law already has its first set of offenders and incidentally, a popular Nollywood actress, Funke Akindele, is one of them.
The actress was sentenced to 14 days community service alongside her husband by a Magistrate Court sitting in the state on Monday. Mrs. Aje Afunwa of the Lagos State Magistrates’ Court in Ogba, who pronounced the sentence, also ordered that the couple to be placed in self-isolation.
The duo were also ordered to pay a fine of N100,000 each. Akindele, who appeared in a Nigeria Centre for Disease Control video to raise awareness about coronavirus was seen in a viral video holding a party in her Lagos home during the lockdown imposed to tackle coronavirus.
Governor Sanwo-Olu had earlier announced that over 400 commercial buses have been impounded for flouting the lockdown order in the state. Clearly, the sense of urgency and responsibility of the Lagos Assembly is paying off. As it is, with the legal framework, efforts by the government to curb further spread of the virus will definitely succeed
