Coronavirus not for the rich alone — Gov Makinde

Oyo State governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, on Monday tested positive for coronavirus otherwise known as COVID-19. In this interview monitored on a popular radio station in Ibadan, the state capital, the governor, who phoned in from isolation addressed the residents of the state on the pandemic.   How are you feeling now? Well, I am […]

Oyo State governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, on Monday tested positive for coronavirus otherwise known as COVID-19. In this interview monitored on a popular radio station in Ibadan, the state capital, the governor, who phoned in from isolation addressed the residents of the state on the pandemic.

 

How are you feeling now?

Well, I am okay. I am feeling okay. Like I posted on my Twitter account, you all know that I took the test for COVID-19 as I promised and everybody knows what the result was.

The result came out positive. So, I have the virus. I delayed the test because I promised that we have to get the diagnostic centre in Ibadan and once we got it going, I would be the first to get tested through that facility. So, the medical team came to my house, where I have been self-isolating, at about 9pm on Saturday, March 28 and they took my samples. I waited for the result and during this time, of course, I was anxious to know, but I kept busy with some of the work at hand, especially on COVID-19.

Meanwhile, we also have other issues that we have to deal with. We are concerned about what to do if things get more difficult and challenging and all that. So those were what I had been doing and when the result came out eventually, it was positive. So, it is what it is and we have to deal with it.

You told a radio presenter that the Nigeria Governors’ Forum asked all governors that attended the last NEC meeting to, as a precaution, self-isolate themselves since one of the attendees tested positive. Is it fair to say that could be the likely source of your exposure to the virus?

Well, the truth is that yes, all governors who attended the National Economic Council meeting were advised to self-isolate once one of the attendees tested positive. So, based on that advice, I started self-isolating a week ago. In fact, I had to cancel the face-to-face State Executive Council meeting because of that. What we are dealing with right now is that well, I have done the test, it is positive. I have the virus; so, it is something that we know is real and we have to deal with it.

Having tested positive, can you describe how you are feeling right now ?

Well, I still don’t have any symptom. As I am talking to you, I can take my body temperature, I have a thermometer and it will read it out to you. But the fact that I have no symptoms is why I have been insisting that people should maintain social distancing, follow hygienic practices and stay at home, because we don’t know who you have interacted with. It may be someone with COVID-19 without even knowing it. So, even a gathering of 10, the maximum that we allow in Oyo State, may still expose you to COVID-19.

The last time I had malaria was six years ago. I am not someone who is comfortable sitting in one spot, so it is really a top war for me that I will have to be confined to my sitting room and bedroom at the moment. But I have always known that the work we are doing comes with a number of risks. Despite this, we have resolved to serve the people of Oyo State. I am a long distant runner; I run marathons, so to me, this is an additional battle that I hope to win by the grace of God.

But the bottom line is; One, coronavirus is real. Two, we have to halt the way we interact with ourselves, at least, until we have a handle on the disease itself.

What is your message to the residents of Oyo State who still have doubts that COVID-19 is real?

Some of them may be listening to us right now. First, you know we had a rally, I believe two weeks ago and then I have seen the video that has been circulating on the social media, which is being misinterpreted to mean that I doubted at any time, the existence of COVID-19. The reality is no, I actually never did. I had used COVID-19 in the same metaphorical way that their leader in the APC did when they were fighting over the national chairmanship and he said, well, the virus has gotten into the APC. So, I made a joke out of it and the video has been circulating that I said there is no coronavirus, that it only exists in the APC. Well, it was a metaphor.

But to the good people of Oyo State, I want to say again: COVID-19 is real. So, they must follow all the measures government has put in place to prevent, contain and control the virus. When we say stay at home and maintain social distancing, wash your hands with soap and water or use hand sanitisers, regularly, those are things that we have to do to defeat this virus. And I know how resilient we are as a people; we will defeat it but I do not want any casualty. I don’t want anybody to lose his or her life while we are at it and I don’t also want people to doubt the sincerity of this government. They gave us the opportunity to serve them and that is exactly what we are going to do.

Some people say COVID-19 is a disease of rich people. What are the plans to ensure that both the rich and the poor could be tested without much stress?

I have also heard some of our people saying coronavirus is for the rich. Let me say this, anyone can contract the virus. So, we all must exercise necessary precautions like the washing of hands regularly with soap and water, using alcohol-based hand sanitisers and keeping social distance.

On the testing centres, at the meeting of the task force, I asked the incident manager and Commissioner for Health that we should wrap up our capacity, so that within the shortest possible time, we will be able to test close to 10,000 of our people. Right now, the entire country has tested not more than a thousand persons. But in Oyo State, we have that capacity to test close to 10 thousand of our people within the shortest possible time and we are working on it.

Now that you have ceded your responsibility to a former Chief Medical Director of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Professor Temitope Alonge, can you assure the people of the state that you are both in it to fight it together, despite your status?

Well, even though I was head of the COVID-19 Task Force in the state, it’s really not like I was making unilateral decisions or I had been trying to project myself as the expert. It was a collective effort. I mean, you look at all the members of the Task Force, they were carefully selected due to the positions they are currently occupying or the expertise that they possess. We’ve also been bringing people in to join us.

Yes, Professor Alonge will be the head of the task force; he will give daily briefings while I recuperate. However, I will continue to work with the COVID-19 Task Force as head of the Oyo State government. I’m still going to be part of that meeting through videoconferencing. I will contribute and moderate, where possible. I still hold the vision of what we want to do in Oyo State.

Are you saying you are very much in charge of the fight against COVID-19 despite being positive?

Pretty much so. I am going to be recording some videos and also some audio materials, to keep the people of Oyo State abreast of what we are doing.

The prevention of the spread of COVID-19 in Oyo State is a joint effort by both the stakeholders and everyone in the state. So, you have my word and I am saying it clearly to the people of Oyo State, that we will continue to take all necessary actions to ensure that coronavirus is contained in the state.

Will you confirm if contact tracing has commenced on individuals, aides, cabinet members and friends that may have been in contact with you since the NEC meeting took place and if those individuals have also gone into self-isolation?

Yes, I can confirm to you that I took the test the same time as the Secretary to the State Government and when the result came out, they said one tested positive and the other negative and it turned out to be that I came out positive and she came out negative.

So, everyone that has had contact with me, we are asking them to go into self-isolation and as soon as any of them shows any symptom, then they get tested.