A socio-cultural, Golden Elites Club, has urged Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State to ensure dilligence of duty at all borders in the state in order to curtail the spread of coronavirus during the current lockdown.
The group, based in Ikere-Ekiti, stressed that the best option in the fight against the virus is to prevent the influx of people into the state by effective borders closure.
The 36-year-old club made this known through its National President, Prof. Tayo Ajayi, while donating food items to 500 widows, orphans and other vulnerable individuals in Ikere-Ekiti.
Ajayi, represented by the Secretary, Prof Joseph Aruleba, said members were devastated by the death of a health worker on Wednesday, which was an incident caused by the menace of porous borders.
He said, “We felt bad that such could happen in Ekiti. It was terrifying and the whole Ekiti was not happy. But we know Ekiti could have been safe, if not for those that were sneaking into the state through the borders.
“The woman who died of the scourge sneaked into Ekiti from Lagos. Most disturbing was the fact that a doctor, who treated her in the hospital, was already infected. You can see that we are all gravely endangered.
“The government must work hard on how to handle our borders, that is where the concern is,” he said.
On the reason for the palliatives distributed, Ajayi said it was neccesary for ease of comformity with the sit-at-home directive of the government.
“We are disturbed by the coronavirus situation because our people are hungry and we understand that a hungry man will always like to defy the stay at home rule. That is why we are intervening with this gesture.
“We saw that the government at all levels have been giving out palliatives, but they must do more if they don’t want us to be ravaged by this deadly disease because more people will contract it if they refuse to end the lockdown.
“About 80 percent of Ekiti rely on daily income to survive and once money is not coming and you are spending, there is likelihood of people being unruly.
“We know people are suffering and the best way to keep them at home is to distribute food to the populace to save them for contracting the scourge that had killed over 100,000 people globally.”
One of the beneficiaries, Mr Afolabi Aluko, applauded the group for the gesture, saying the menace of COVID-19 requires concerted efforts, rather than relying solely on government.
Aluko called on others groups, well-meaning individuals, corporate organisations and civil society bodies to coalesce with the government to tackle hunger in the state during the current situation.