Sunday Vanguard sampled the opinion of a cross section of Nigerians on whether the Federal Government should extend the two-week sit-at-home order as it expires.

Their responses offered a glimpse into what people outside the corridors of power think about the lockdown.

The generality of opinion is that restriction of movement should continue on one condition.

Find out the caveat as you read along.

“I am tempted to support the extension of the lockdown by the Federal Government given the daily report from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control .NCDC, which shows an increase in the numbers of people who test positive. Since only the discovery of vaccine can prevent the virus, for now, Nigerians should embrace social distancing and proper hygiene” – Tunji Abdulhameed, Legal Practitioner

“The more government carries out COVID-19 test, the more it identifies people with positive cases in view of non-compliance with  social distancing directives.

More information on the proper precautionary measures should be provided. Should the lock-down be extended? I believe we have not reached the climax of this pandemic.

The lockdown should be extended. However, government should assist the citizens now with better palliatives. If our case is not properly managed, we may have worse challenges to manage. Since the majority of the population operates in the informal sector, sustaining the lockdown for long may not be feasible” – Adekunle Adeniyi,

Business Analyst

“It is necessary to extend the lockdown to prevent the worst case scenario in Nigeria.

However, considering the nation’s loss of about N20bn revenue and inadequate palliatives to cushion the effects of the lockdown on citizens, it may not be necessary to extend the lockdown. It could be reviewed to allow economic activities. It is desirable that Nigeria comes out of COVID-19 crisis with a government that is proactive” – Jide Ologun, Legal Practitioner

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“I think government should relax the two weeks lockdown. If they can’t provide better palliatives for everyone, I see no reason for the lockdown to continue. People have already exhausted the food they have at home. How can you keep someone indoors for 14 days without providing food for the person? I am sure President Buhari is being misinformed. People around him are not telling him the truth. That is why he believes everything is fine. How can Nassarawa State with no case of COVID-19 get relief funds? I think government should ask those guys that share electricity bills to share the relief materials” – Owoso Mayowa,

Student

“Federal Government should extend the lockdown for more weeks. It should mandate all local government chairmen to care for 50 percent of people in their domain while politicians should also cater to the remaining 50 percent. More so, they should ensure that  isolation centers are well equipped while medical tests are conducted from house to house” – Prince Wahab Ogunji, Youth Leader

“It is obvious that the two weeks lockdown prevented Nigeria from becoming an epicentre where hundreds of Coronavirus cases are recorded daily. At the same time, government should not extend the lockdown because doing so would amount to unleashing hunger on people. That will be more dangerous than the pandemic.

Ever since government ordered the lockdown, poverty has taken another dimension. Many people cannot afford to feed adequately” – Femi Oluwasanmi, Public Affairs Analyst.

“I think the lockdown should be extended because the number of people infected is increasing daily. Lockdown is actually a tool government uses to slow down the spread of the virus. A lot of Nigerians are suffering due to the sit at home order. Government should ensure appropriate disbursement of funds and relief materials to the masses to ease the pains caused by the lockdown” – Paul Oluwatoyin, Businessman

“Extension of the lockdown is a welcome development but government should allow people to move between 6am and 2pm. The freedom would allow them to stock their house with foodstuffs that can last them for as long as the shutdown lasts.Law enforcement agents should ensure that people comply with the order. They should arrest violators because it appears the ongoing shutdown is not really working in Lagos” – Akinboye John, Engineer

Vanguard