Mallam El-Rufai, the Kaduna state governor has done something noble and worthy of commendations by his directives to remove all the barricades on the road in his state.
Unlike some other state governments who seized the opportunity of the interstate lockdown to exploit the citizens and thus generate IGR for the state and also enrich the men of the Police.
Why did we term this noble??
Ordinarily, the lockdown if strictly observed would have been a good way to curtail the spread of Covid-19 but unfortunately, some state governments are just punishing the citizens.
Just as El-Rufai has seen the handwriting on the wall about this so-called lockdown, some other governors like Willie Obiano of Anambra state is still busy enforcing the lockdown and even increased the curfew from 10pm back to 8pm.
You’d recall that Jkcyno news reported exclusively on What’s the essence of these “Useless” inter-state lockdown afterall? after seeing the level of heavy extortion, hardship and excruciating pain people are meant to observe at Onitsha Bridge-head of Anambra State.
Below are the excerpts from the Twitter handle of Mallam Elrufai…
KDSG has directed the immediate removal of roadblocks at the various boundaries of the state. Barricades placed at the entry points are to be removed forthwith, while KDSG officials will no longer be posted for boundary patrols.
The State Taskforce on Covid-19 has reviewed the situation at the state boundaries as the state emerges from partial lockdown. Persistent extortion of vehicles conveying essential goods by some security officials is complicating an already challenging period.
The ban of interstate travel by the FG as part of Covid-19 containment efforts has largely been observed in the breach by the people charged with enforcing it. The conduct of such officials is also jeopardising the timely and cost-effective delivery of essential goods.
While insufficient to stop the influx of persons, deployment of senior KDSG officials to entry points was a necessary sacrifice to help reduce the chances of Covid-19 spread through interstate travel, despite lacklustre cooperation by security agencies in enforcing the ban.
Therefore, the Kaduna State Government has directed that roadblocks at state boundaries be dismantled and removed. Henceforth, the only roadblocks authorised within the state are those that are mounted to enforce the 8pm-5am curfew.
We stand to praise or critique any member of the government who decides to do anything noble…… Today, we have decided to praise the KADUNA STATE GOVERNMENT.