Gbenro Adesina
As part of efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the State, the Oyo State Government, in conjunction with the University of Ibadan (UI), has set up the Oyo State Containment and Decontamination Project Committee.
The committee, led by UI Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships), Professor Olanike Adeyemo, is embarking on the immediate decontamination of all areas suspected to have come under the attack of coronavirus.
According to a statement signed by the Special Assistant (Print Media) to Governor Seyi Makinde, Moses Alao, Prof Adeyemo, led some members of the committee including the Personal Assistant to Governor Seyi Makinde, Mr. Akeem Azeez and Mr. Tolu Afolayan, to the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State Television and Fresh FM 105.9 Ibadan, where she noted that the committee would embark on fumigation of locations based on indication of the virus.
Adeyemo stated that the committee is a strategic partnership that brought together the Oyo State government, University of Ibadan and experts from other organisations, noting that the committee would begin the fumigation exercise with the Oyo State Government Secretariat and the home of other persons who tested positive to the virus.
She stressed that based on facts from experts, her committee was in alignment with the views of Governor Makinde on the need for a logical and evidence-based approach to fighting Covid-19.
Adeyemo, who encouraged religious leaders and owners of businesses in the state to take responsibility by going ahead with the fumigation of their premises in what she described as a prophylactic step, informed members of the public that her committee has developed a protocol, which can be followed by anyone interested in embarking on fumigation.
The don explained that as part of the committee’s efforts on the containment of the disease, it has deployed Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to map and plot the state such that it would be easy to identify social clusters and provide adequate information on containing the disease.
She said: “We have to show our people that we are doing the best thing to protect them. We don’t have to begin to fumigate everywhere because we just want to be popular; it is not a popularity contest; it is about protecting the people.
“As the governor has always said, COVID-19 is an uncharted territory. So, the idea of decontamination is to contain the disease. But we have assessed the risk in Oyo State, we cannot do what they are doing in Lagos or Abuja just because they are doing it. The governor is doing things that will protect people and he is taking day by day and minute by minute decisions.
“What someone would have done was to just award this project to one contractor and that contractor would go ahead and spray water or any kind of chemical, which would have no effect. But this project is a partnership between the Oyo State government and the University of Ibadan. It has a blend of members of the academics, government officials and other experts. And it is driven largely by volunteers. At the University of Ibadan, we are teaching our students to be responsible and a number of them have volunteered to assist in the fumigation. We also have experts in Environmental Health, who will help with the prescription of the right chemical and the measures. But this is a partnership that is not about money. We have a layer of experts”.
Prof Adeyemo further explained the reason for starting with the State Secretariat. She said: “We are fumigating the secretariat because the governor tested positive and he works there. But we are now saying that if you are an owner of business, you can fumigate your premises. If you have church or mosque you can do a prophylaxis. What we have done is to develop a protocol that can be used by churches, mosques and other centres with social cluster.
“We are encouraging people to be responsible, if you have a church, mosque, a hotel, we don’t have to wait for Oyo government to fumigate for you. You should do that. We need to trust government more and to play our parts”.
She added that as part of the social responsibility of residents at this period, they should report individuals with Covid-19-related symptoms, especially those how may have travel history outside the country or even Lagos and Abuja.
