By Vincent Ujumadu

Awka – ANAMBRA State government has defended  its decision to relax the lockdown in the state occasioned by the dreaded coronavirus pandemic, explaining that it was to avoid social unrest in the state.

Governor Willie Obiano had in a broadcast, directed the reopening of churches and relaxation of intra –state movement to let in what he described as fresh air in Anambra State. Few hours after the broadcast, normal life returned to the state, with private shops opening for business.

The Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr. C Don Adinuba said yesterday that any government which pursued any policy under the guise of economic efficiency without regard to the social and political implications would only have itself to blame.

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He said: “Like every other government, the Anambra State administration is bound to protect its people from the ravages of COVID-19, but it cannot afford to do so by unwittingly allowing millions of its people to die of hunger and starvation or by causing their businesses to collapse through an unmitigated lockdown.

“The 28 days of lockdown, when all markets were shut down, vehicular and human movements restricted, schools closed, traditional religious services suspended, funerals, wedding and title taking ceremonies practically stopped, have already taken enormous toll on the people’s well being.

“Social unrest must, therefore, be avoided. If people in developed nations could not accept more than three weeks of lockdown, despite the immense social safety nets for the poor and the huge amounts paid by governments directly to the citizens who lost their jobs in the wake of COVID-19, we can imagine what the most vulnerable in our society and elsewhere in Africa have been going through.

“Governor Willie Obiano did the right thing by announcing some policy fine tuning, like the lifting of the restriction on intrastate vehicular movement, but not interstate movement because COVID-19 could be brought into Anambra State again from another part of the country.

“There was, therefore, no justification for the lockdown to remain without any adjustment. In any case, relaxation of restrictions is the trend worldwide”.

According to the Commissioner, “public policy is not cast in marble unless by a government run by ideologues, hawks, hardliners, puritans and extremists who, by their very nature, are allergic to facts, evidence and rational thinking”.