Don’t lock down again, economy already weak, LCCI advises Nigerian Government

The Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr Muda Yusuf, said the government should allow economic activities to continue as much as possible.

He said, “The economy is already very weak; the problem of unemployment is serious. The poverty situation is getting worse, and the only way we can fix some of these things is to allow economic activities to pick up because this is not a problem that palliatives measures can solve, given the structure of our economy.

“We have an economy that is almost 50 per cent informal – they live on daily economic activity. So, it should be the last resort, if at all. I think what is important is to ensure that we scale up the non-pharmaceutical measures.

But a professor of political economy and management expert, Pat Utomi, said the country should lockdown if need be.

In a response to one of Punch correspondents via text message, he said, “We are better alive. If the data suggest lockdown then we should. For the unique sectors, safety protocols can be adopted to avoid an economic meltdown.”

– Punch