The Chinese government has said the Asian country and its people are also victims of the COVID-19 pandemic and not perpetrators or accomplices as alleged in certain quarters.
It was responding to reports suggesting that a coalition of Nigerian legal practitioners had filed a class action against the People’s Republic of China over the effects of coronavirus on Nigerians.
The lawyers are reportedly demanding $200 billion as damages for alleged “loss of lives, economic strangulation, trauma, hardship, social disorientation, mental torture and disruption of normal daily existence of people in Nigeria.”
Responding to the said report, which made the rounds recently in the media, the press secretary to the Embassy of China in Nigeria, Mr. Sun Saixiong, noted that the virus was a common enemy to all mankind and may strike at anytime and anywhere.
China, like other countries, he maintained, is “also a victim and not a perpetrator, even less an accomplice of the COVID-19.”
The Chinese authority in Nigeria also noted that since the outbreak of COVID-19, China has in an open transparent and responsible spirit, taken the most comprehensive, rigorous and thorough measures to contain its spread and conduct international cooperation.
It maintained the Asian country had in the process made tremendous sacrifices, accumulated valuable experience and made significant contributions to the global response to which the international community bears witness to and applauds.
“In the face of major public health crisis and infectious diseases, the international community should stand in solidarity and work together, not resort to mutual accusation or demand retribution and accountability. As we recall, there has never been any precedence of the later”, Saixiong stated.
Maintaining that China is standing together with Nigeria in the global fight against COVID-19, the China Embassy’s scribe called on the Nigerian legal practitioners to desist from attacking and discrediting other countries.
“Attacking and discrediting other countries by other countries will not save the time and lives lost. At this critical moment, we urge that Nigerian legal practitioners should do more things to enhance mutual trust and help epidemic prevention and control in both countries, rather than dancing to the tune of a certain country to hype up the situation”, Saixiong added.
We’ll Come Out Of Pandemic Stronger – Osinbajo
Meanwhile, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said Nigeria will get through the COVID-19 pandemic much stronger economically and much stronger as a people because of her resilience.
He gave assurance to Nigerians during his interaction yesterday at the 2020 edition of ‘The Platform’ themed “Nigeria’s Battle Against COVID-19”.
“I am very confident that Nigerians, with our resilience, our strength and our innovation, we will go through this in great shape”, a statement by his spokesman, Laolu Akande, the vice president as saying.
The Platform is an annual discussion programme of the Covenant Christian Centre that features discussions around the state of the Nigerian nation and its development.
The May 2020 edition featured virtual participants without a life audience as a result of the global pandemic.
The vice president outlined some of federal government’s efforts to address the economic fallouts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking specifically about how the country can transform the challenges caused by the pandemic into opportunities for economic diversification and job creation, the vice president said prioritizing use of local resources and creating local jobs in the construction and allied industry, among other things, would be critical in sustaining the economy in the post COVID-19 era.
He said, “We have to prioritise the use of local resources in all public works. In road construction for instance, it is cheaper to build concrete roads using limestone than spending resources on the importation of bitumen. We have limestone in abundance hence we should be looking in that direction. The road from the Apapa port to the Lagos –Ibadan expressway is being built with cement and is of high quality.
“In the housing sector where we have a huge deficit, we need to focus on using local resources to build houses and in the process we will be creating opportunities for young engineers, architects and builders etc.”
In the area of agriculture, the VP said government’s initial policies had saved the country from the huge forex burden of food imports and related activities.
He continued: “We think that by ramping up agriculture, especially small holder agriculture and improving the value chain in storage and processing facilities, more jobs will be created for many young people.
“We have found ourselves in a situation where we realize that the way to go is to support the creation of the jobs in agriculture and reduce food imports and ultimately address the issue of unemployment and food shortages. What we must do as much as we can is to change the narrative about Nigeria and provide more jobs.”
Still on mitigating the fallouts of the COVID-19 pandemic such as inflation, the vice president said government would focus on improving productivity and improving food stock across the country.
According to him, “if you can ramp up food production and the logistics of bringing food to the urban centres, inflation will be controlled to a large extent.”
He added that boosting agricultural production for export purposes and supporting the mining sector will bolster the country’s foreign exchange earnings and reserves.
Other contributors to discussions at the virtual summit include Governors Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Nasir El-rufai of Kaduna State, Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State and Godwin Obaseki of Edo State.
Uproar Over Bill To Make Vaccination Compulsory
Meanwhile, moves by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, to pass the Infectious Disease Control bill is generating rumpus in the polity.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday rejected passage of the bill without what it describe as recourse to the laid down procedure of public hearing to allow Nigerians participate in the process of making the law.
The opposition party said moves to shut out Nigerians from public debate on such a crucial legislation was ominous and raises suspicions of sinister objectives as the nation combats the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
A statement issued yesterday by national publicity secretary of PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, noted: “This is especially as the bill seeks to prescribe clauses on critical issues, particularly that of vaccination, which has become globally controversial in the face of raging conspiracy theories on the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The PDP said it was alarmed that such approach was already worsening public mistrust in the polity as well as heightening apprehension over the intentions of the presiding officers of the House of Representatives and the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration at such a critical time.
The PDP insisted that Nigerians must be carried along in the decision making process of such a critical legislation, which seeks to make provisions that will directly affect their health as well as overall individual and collective safety and wellbeing.
The party stressed that anything short of that would be counterproductive and capable of breeding an avoidable public resistance, especially given the deepening fear and anxiety in the polity over the COVID-19 pandemic.
The PDP counseled the Speaker to immediately call himself to order and allow for public hearing on the bill.
Also, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Youth Alliance raised the alarm over the proposed vaccine bill that is being considered by the National Assembly.
National publicity secretary, Dr Emeka Kalu, in a statement issued yesterday, lashed out at members of the House of Representatives, contending that the manner and reckless abandon with which the lawmakers were planning to cage Nigeria with the bill he said looked like “Decree 4″ was unacceptable”.
Nigeria Needs Urgent Data Collation To Plan For Emergencies, Says Sanwo-Olu
Meanwhile, Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has saud the country must urgently embark on collation of data to plan for emergencies.
According to him, accurate data is a very critical component for economic planning and good governance.
Sanwo-Olu noted that the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus pandemic has shown that Nigerian leaders need to place a premium on gathering of data if the country truly desired to move forward socially and economically.
The governor said the absence of data on the identities of residents slowed down planning activities as the nation grapples with several issues that emanated from the COVID-19 pandemic.
He noted that data is critical to planning during emergencies such as COVID-19.
Sanwo-Olu, while fielding questions as a guest on the digital edition of the platform, Covenant Christian Centre socio-political programme, said no nation can maximise her full potential without data.
He said, “It is what happens to us post COVID-19 that determines who we are as a people and not what we do at the moment. We need data. We need the identity of every citizen in this country.
“There’s nothing like being over prepared in this kind of situation. You can make mistakes in times of crisis but you must learn from them. We have realised that as a state, we need data in order to plan and proffer solutions to problems.”
Sanwo-Olu said communication was another key ingredient in assuring citizens whenever there is a crisis.
The governor stated that the experience garnered in the management of COVID-19 in Lagos state showed that effective communication between government and the citizens plays a major role, adding that the government must be very transparent with whatever they are communicating to the residents.
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