Tight race as social media poll on lockdown ends today

Following a fierce contest and intense criticism on social media that trailed the Lagos State online public opinion poll on another lockdown, the state government explained that the outcome of the polls slated to end today, May 15, will not be the only determinant of the final decision of the government on the statewide lockdown.

The State government, through three of its social media platforms, namely; Twitter: @followlasg, Facebook: Lagos State Government and Instagram: @lagosstategovt, on Tuesday, May 12, instituted a poll to determine the perspective of members of the public on the possibility of another lockdown of Lagos.

As at the last check yesterday evening, of the 74,429 votes garnered on Twitter, 49.3 per cent voted for another lockdown, 40.1 per cent voted for don’t lockdown and 10.6 per cent voted neutral.

Speaking on the polls, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Mr. Olusina Thorpe, said that the initiative was introduced as part of the inclusive strategy of the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration to carry the masses along in governance and also entrench participatory governance.

According to him, other factors would be considered by the government before a final decision is taken on either imposing another lockdown or not in the coming weeks.

While analysing the results of the polls so far, Thorpe said that the closeness in the number of Lagosians who are in support of another lockdown compared to those opposed to the imposition of a fresh lockdown shows the controversial nature of the issue.

“As evident on the three social media platforms, some of the online users voted in favour of another lockdown while some voted against it and a few others were neutral. On our Facebook as at this morning (Thursday), those who voted against a fresh lockdown are more than those who voted in favour of it. While on Twitter, the reverse was the case; Twitter users voted in favour of another lockdown”, he added.

The Permanent Secretary averred that with the wide exposure of the masses to the social media, the value of online survey cannot be undermined in the decision-making process, especially when such decision affects the populace, hence the need to also know what the masses feel about the issue of the lockdown.

The Guardian gathered that on the streets, many of those interviewed opposed the idea of another lockdown. A doctor who spoke on the condition of anonymity was enraged at the suggestion of another lockdown.

“The lockdown is only aimed at killing Nigerians because the government is not caring on the side of getting the people food to eat. When you keep somebody indoor and you do not feed him, it is the short-cut to cutting his life and this is what a lot of Nigerians are experiencing today. People are hungry and they do not have anything to eat. Continued stay at home is tantamount to wickedness on the part of the government that is not ready to give food to those you ask to stay at home.

“We are only hearing huge donations to the government that is not ready to assist the people with the colossal amount but only telling them to stay indoor. The government should allow people to go about their businesses with adherence to the safety protocols,” he said.