Rivers Winning War Against Covid-19, SSG Affirms

The Secretary to Rivers State Government, Dr Tammy Danagogo, yesterday, said that the winning strategy adopted by the Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, in the fight against the dreaded Coronavirus pandemic presently ravaging the world, was recording huge success.
Danagogo noted that the Coronavirus cannot be described as a mere disease as it has become a major global security challenge that has negatively affected all facets of human co-existence, adding that the Government of Rivers State was successfully overcoming those challenges.
The SSG stated this while speaking to participants of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, during an interactive session with government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) on the theme; ‘Pandemic and National Security: Covid-19 in Perspective’, at the Government House, Port Harcourt, yesterday.
Danagogo explained that, Governor Nyeson Wike’s political will, proactive, pragmatic and dogged approach to containing the virus in the state at the news of the index case in Lagos, was a significant part of what lowered community spreading of the virus in the state.
“Rivers State Government started very early to wage the war against the pandemic. Governor Wike was very vocal about the dangers of the disease, and implemented strict protocols backed by Executive Orders to ensure we do not allow community spread in the state.
“The heads of the security agencies were patriotic and supported the efforts to implement strict measures but politics played into the challenge and the security heads were removed and our borders were opened which caused community spread in the state.
“However, despite the challenges presented by the change of security heads, the governor was not perturbed as he had already set up different committees starting with the State Covid-19 Response Team headed by the governor himself to tackle any such emergencies.
“Note that no matter what government or security agencies do, we need the understanding from the masses, if we must win the war against the predicted second wave of the virus. But we are ready and hoping that we will succeed once again”, he added.
The Commissioner for Information and Communications, Pastor Paulinus Nsirim, noted that in addition to the tactical measures by the different committees, an all-encompassing communication strategy was implemented to create awareness and attitudinal change.