Governor Ganduje engages Kano monarchs to fight coronavirus

Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has outlined a four-point action plan to engage traditional institutions in the fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Ganduje, during a meeting with the Kano traditional council led by the Emir of Kano, Alh. Aminu Ado Bayero, at the Government House, noted the need to expand the frontiers of the traditional institution to contain the pandemic in their domains.

According to the governor, the rationale behind engagement of the traditional institution was to break the chain of community transmission of the pandemic in the state.

He told all at the meeting that the state would soon come up with a four-point Action Plan, which would also be translated in local languages.

The Action Plan will, among others, provide a step-by-step approach to dealing with the pandemic, he said.The Guardian gathered that Kano would make the Action Plan available to all the emirates in the state, for onward transmission to people at the grassroots. 

Ganduje said, “This meeting between government, health professionals and our emirs is an avenue for all of us to rub minds, point out effective ways of working together and strengthening our strategy in the fight against COVID-19. 

“Since before the coming of the pandemic we had been working closely together, this sitting creates more room for institutional strengthening. That is why this and similar meetings are absolutely necessary, to double up in our public campaign efforts.”

He added the government was involving the emirs, district and village heads, imams and community leaders with the strategy and strengthening weapons against the disease.

“COVID-19 affects all aspects of life; it affects our religious obligations, our economy, our culture as well as our social settings. Though we are in Ramadan, still we cannot go to mosques to observe our prayers. 

“It is painful that we cannot observe our obligatory prayers in the mosque, but there is nothing we can do about it. We just have to bear it. Shaking hands when greeting is no longer tenable. But there is nothing we can do for now. So let’s work together and break the chain of the transmission,” he advised.

The governor made it clear for the traditional leaders that the fight against COVID-19 could only be won when people cooperate with government and health practitioners.

Bayero, who spoke on behalf of all other emirs, assured of their unflinching support to all policies that would be handed down to them in due course.“As we are certain that this COVID-19 is real, we will do our best to make people understand why we must all join hands to fight it,” he stated.