The Former President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan had warned that lockdown would fail if effective coronavirus testing is not taking place.
He called on stronger economic nations and international agencies such as the World Health Organization to support Nigeria and other African nations in getting the needed equipment and kits in order to be able to conduct aggressive COVID-19 testing.
In his appeal, he called on international financing and donor agencies with creditor nations to consider economic palliative grants and debt relief.
He said this will help the weaker nations in surviving the economic difficulties posed on them by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jonathan said this while speaking as a panelist in an international web-based conference organized by the Universal Peace Federation.
According to a statement by Jonathan’s media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, Jonathan said, “It is true that many African nations are observing lockdown of cities and maintaining isolation centers, but if there is no effective testing, locking down populations as currently obtainable in many African countries may not be very effective.
“The key thing is that Africa is in dire need of testing kits. The world should come to the aid of Africa by sending more of these kits and other needed equipment to make the fight against COVID-19 more meaningful. Restrictions without strong and aggressive testing will not be impactful.
“We plead that WHO needs to come to the aid of African countries to enable them to procure the necessary kits to enable them to conduct aggressive testing now that many cities are locked down.”
