Moved by the need to halt the spread of the deadly coronavirus, a member of the House of Representatives from Oyo State, Honourable Abass Adigun, popularly called Agboworin, has distributed 2, 500 hand sanitisers, 12, 500 face masks and hand gloves to market men and women in his constituency.
Adigun, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker representing Ibadan North-East/Ibadan South-East Federal Constituency, commended the governor of the state, Mr Seyi Makinde, on the measures taken by government to prevent an outbreak of the virus in the state.
Speaking with newsmen after the distribution, the lawmaker said the items were distributed to the beneficiaries in livestock market at Molete, Owode Academy market, sack sellers at Oja’ ba market and others in Ibadan South-East Local Government Area on Saturday.
He said traderd in Ibadan North-East Local Government Area markets would get theirs tomorrow, adding that fliers in English and Yoruba languages containing awareness messages were also given to traders in the markets.
The lawmaker used the opportunity to task the traders in his constituency and in the state in general to be compassionate and not hike the prices of foodstuff and other essentials in the time of global emergency that the world is in now.
He charged the traders to always wear the gloves and the face masks as well as the rub the sanitiser on their hands, explaining to them that there was high risk of transmission in the markets because they deal with cash and large number of people.
He said it was not enough to use the sanitiser but for the traders to also ensure their hands were clean at all times before applying it, adding that cleanliness of their environment was also important.
“At this time of global emergency occasioned by coronavirus, it is important we sensitise the market women, traders and others in the informal sector of the economy on the need to imbibe hygienic practices to forestall the spread of the virus in the state.
“Governor Makinde belled the cat in this regard by directing the media unit led by the Commissioner for Information to take the campaign against COVID-19 to markets and create awareness about the virus among the operators in the informal sector.
“We are happy at the moment that we don’t have what the medical experts call community transition of the virus in the state. I believe that with these efforts from the government and from me, awareness will spread and the chances of rapid spread reduced in the state, ” he said.
He charged the people of the state to ensure total compliance with the new guidelines released by the state government, adding that it was for the goid of the people that such measures were taken.
