24th March, 2020
Lagos State Government has threatened to shutdown pre-school, creche and daycare centres for not complying with its directive on their closure as a way of managing the spread of the deadly Coronavirus.
Lagos has currently recorded 29 cases of the 42 cases recorded nationwide.
The Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Mr. Segun Dawodu who expressed displeasure with some owners of these centres still operating in different parts of the State, warned them to desist from flouting the directive of the State Government.
This warning, according to the Commissioner, has become necessary considering the fact that some operators did not attach any importance or seriousness to the directive but had instead turned deaf ears to the order from the State Incident Commander, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
He observed that “furtherance to the directives of the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on the closure of all schools in the State to prevent further spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), it had been observed that some Operators of Pre-Schools, Daycare and Creche were still not complying with such directives.
While stating that these categories of persons were not exempted from the directive of the Governor, Dawodu restated that failure to comply with the position of the government would attract immediate shut down of the facilities of culpable centres.
While underscoring the vulnerability of children and adult to the deadly Coronavirus disease, Mr. Dawodu pleaded with owners of Pre-Schools, Creche and Daycare Centers to ensure strict compliance with the closure notice.
He said, “Medical Experts have informed us that children and the elderly are the most vulnerable groups as far as COVlD-19 is concerned. This means that the need to protect our children cannot be over-emphaslzed.”