Covid-19: Group thumbs down NOA, demands budget probe

A group, Northern Solidarity Front (NSF), has thumbed down the National Orientation Agency (NOA) for “not doing enough in sensitising Nigerians on the dangers associated with the coronavirus.”

In a statement issued Friday in Abuja by its leader, Garuda Ahmed, the group lambasted the NOA for “sitting idle instead of carrying out its main objective that it was established to do in this time of national crisis.”

“It is sad that at this critical time, the NOA is doing nothing to sensitise Nigerians on the dangers associated with the covid-19 virus. If the agency had been doing its job, the report by Aljazeera where Nigerians were seen going about their normal lives and claiming that the virus is not in Nigeria would have been the opposite,” the statement read in part.

The statement further called for a probe of the budget of the NOA, saying, “You cannot have a yearly budget and still do nothing.”

 It also called on the APC-led government to take a cue from former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Aliko Dangote and Tony Elumelu by providing relief stimuluses “for vulnerable Nigerians this period.”

It also lambasted the APC-led government for playing politics with the situation.

“I wonder why at this critical time, instead of looking for a solution, the APC is busy playing politics by spreading falsehood about the son of the former VP who tested positive to the virus but today they are mute on the case of the Chief of Staff to the President, Malam Abba Kyari, who as we know, refused to self isolate when he returned from the Covid19 hot-spot and cautioned Nigerians on the need to maintain personal hygiene, observe social distancing and listen to the advice of the NCDC.”

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