Akpodubakaye urges Okowa to provide food for Deltans to make lockdown meaningful – The Liberator
Condems killing of Pessu, wants him to caution soldiers
By Binebai Princewill
A Niger Delta youth leader, Hon. Jude Akpodubakaye has appealed to the Delta State Governor, His Excellency, Sen. Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa to urgently provide food for Deltans to make lockdown meaningful for the masses.
The youth leader made this known via a statement he personally signed and circulated to newsmen in Warri yesterday, a copy of which was sent to The Liberator Newspaper.
While making case for Deltans, Hon. Akpodubakaye had condemned the killing of Mr. Joseph Pessu, a vibrant Deltan by soldiers in the name of enforcing lockdown order of the state and federal governments.
Akpodubakaye maintained that it is good to lockdown at least to curtail spread of the virus but noted that it is not enough to be making declarative statements without the government showing any form of concern towards the welfare and wellbeing of the people.
However, Hon. Jude insisted that this is the time that the people needed the government most just as he charges the government to do the needful by meeting the masses at the point of their needs.
In his words: “Since this whole episode of Coronavirus, also known as Covid-19 started in this country, though I am optimistic that Delta will not record any case of it but the masses have been at the receiving end of suffering.
“First it was the pronouncement of total lockdown, with this people are expected to stay at home for two weeks to avoid eventual spread of the virus, later prices of food items and other commodities have skyrocketed without any control, the poor masses still tries to buy while the government watch in akinbo.
“And sadly Soldiers have on top of it killed a youth on this matter in Warri. It is a normal thing anywhere in the world that when government takes some tough decisions, there has to be a corresponding palliative measures to ameliorate the suffering of the people.
“The masses that have nothing have been the ones sacrificing while the government that has everything is yet to do anything tangible to positively affect the lives of the people, what a twist of life.
“The Government has also refused to go tough on institutions rendering key services to the people, like electricity, I expect light to be constant throughout this period but surprisingly, since the lockdown began few days back, there is nothing like light in my area and many people in Warri too are saying the same thing.
“These are very sensitive things the Government must look into and the regulation of prices of commodities in the market”.
Meanwhile, Akpodubakaye had called on the Delta State Governor to caution the military while trying to enforce the lockdown order, stressing that the military should ensure that no one should be allowed to enter the state through the state borders, adding that the whole essence of the lockdown would be an exercise in futility if people with the virus are allowed to enter the state unknowingly through the borders.
