President Muhammadu Buhari has approved fresh measures to curtail the further spread of COVID-19 across the country.
Part of the measures is the restriction of guests at weddings, conferences, and sporting activities among others to 50.
The government also ordered the closure of all bars, nightclubs, and restaurants.
The chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, disclosed this at a press briefing of the task force in Abuja.
He said, “The PTF has surveyed developments and actions taken by governments around the world, assessed our domestic environment and has accordingly submitted its recommendations to Mr President on immediate measures to be taken.
Accordingly, His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has authorised the PTF to engage with the states and the FCT to assume full ownership of this stage of the response by deploying legal structures and resources, including enforcement to manage the pandemic within their jurisdictions.
In line with the authorisation, the PTF wishes to issue the following advisories to sub-national entities for implementation over the next five weeks because these activities are considered super spreader events:
a. Close All bars, night clubs, pubs and event centres, and recreational venues;
b. Close all restaurants except those providing services to hotel residents; takeaways, home deliveries and drive-ins shall remain closed
c. Restrict all informal and formal festivity events including weddings, conferences, congresses, office parties, concerts, seminars, sporting activities, end of year events shall be restricted to not more than 50 persons;
d. Limit All gatherings linked to religious events to less than 50% capacity of the facility of use during which physical distancing; mandatory use of face masks shall be strictly enforced
e. Where more than 50 persons are attending, any such events, the gathering should be held outdoors only;
f. Public transportation systems are to carry passengers not more than 50% of their capacity in compliance with social distancing rules.
g. Enforce compliance with NPI protocols especially the advisory on wearing of face masks in public spaces.”
Mustapha added that to reduce overcrowding in public spaces, markets, shopping centres, offices and schools, states are advised to implement the following:
a. Encourage virtual meetings in government offices. The leadership of such offices are to ensure that all offices are well-ventilated offices, and encourage staff to work from home where possible;
b. All government staff on GL.12 and below are to stay at home for the next 5 weeks; Permanent Secretaries and Chief Executives are to be held accountable for enforcing NPI rules in their domains with frequent spot checks;
c. The PTF on the advice of the Federal Ministry of Education expects that schools would have vacated from the 18th December 2020 and remain closed till at least the 18th of January, 2021 to enable the measures introduced to take effect;
d. All persons above the age of 60yrs and/or with comorbidities are to be encouraged to stay at home and avoid crowds;
e. All non-essential travels – both domestic and international during the holiday season are seriously discouraged;
Professor Adebola Babatunde Ekanola,
Acting Vice Chancellor University of Ibadan has empathize with the students and staffs and members of university community for their experiences in the last ten months
He also expressed optimism that the blossoming of goodwill, peace, mutual love, and remarkable progress lies ahead.
“My heartfelt sympathy goes to all our students whose studies have been suspended for many months now. I feel the pain of my esteemed colleagues whose promotions are pending. I share the frustration of all other categories of stakeholders negatively affected one way or the other by the situation in the Nigerian University System, and especially in the University of Ibadan.
“I pray that the national crisis precipitated by the on-going industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities would be over very soon, that the COVID-19 pandemic would become history quickly, and that all lost grounds would be regained.
in special messages to members of the University community, Ekanola said globally, the year 2020 has been an admixture of tension, challenges, losses, lessons, and new directions
“However, we must be grateful to God for the opportunity to constructively and collectively deploy the lessons learnt in the last 10 months in a
process that will ensure enduring harmony, stability and the progress of our common heritage, the University of Ibadan.
“We must realise that peace is a tender living thing. You stifle it and it dies; you ignore it and it withers; you nurture it and it blossoms. In our words and actions, in the many posts on our different media platforms, let us nurture peace, and prioritise
the integrity and best interest of our University above all prejudices and other concerns.”
” On the part of the University Management, we will continue to do our part to serve the best interest of all stakeholders and chart the way for peaceful progress and our collective good.”
The task ahead of us is great, but as a united family of UI stakeholders, we are more than able to record resounding successes.
Together, U and I can and will move UI forward. By our collective will, let us break all barriers; and, despite our challenges, let us raise the bar for UI and consolidate our position among the global best players in the domain of higher education.
4340 Special Release 22 December, 2020
SEASON’S GREETINGS
Dear Esteemed Stakeholder in the University of Ibadan,
On behalf of the Management of the University of Ibadan, I hereby write to wish you a wonderful Christmas and a prosperous 2021 ahead.
Globally, the year 2020 has been an admixture of tension, challenges, losses, lessons, and new directions.
In its unique way, it has also been a year of gains and progress.
However, in the case of the University of Ibadan, and other federal universities in the country, it is the year in which we lost about 10 months of academic activities to the global COVID-19 pandemic and a national strike called by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
We have also had to contend
with the local industrial action called by the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and the Senior
Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), together with issues that arose from the
process of appointing a new Vice Chancellor.
However, we must be grateful to God for the opportunity to constructively and collectively deploy the lessons learnt in the last 10 months in a
process that will ensure enduring harmony, stability and the progress of our common heritage, the University of Ibadan.
From the ashes of the clogs and the spell of tension of the last 10 months, I
By the grace of God and our
collective efforts, tension has been doused, fractured friendships are already healing; and frayed
nerves are being calmed.
Again, I wish you a merry Christmas and a most prosperous new year.
