The PTF also advised governors to suspend interstate movements of Almajirai so as not to frustrate efforts to combat the pandemic.
Northern Governors’ Forum, in a statement issued after its meeting on April 21 unanimously decided to ban the Almajirai system of education. They decided that the children should be sent back to their parents or states of origin.
States, which have been repatriating the Almajirai back to their states of origin include Kano and Nasarawa.
But some of the children have been diagnosed with COVID-19. For example, On May 2, the Kaduna State Government said 21 out of 61 Almajirai deported to the state from Kano tested positive for the virus.
Besides, some of the children are being hidden in vehicles carrying food and brought to the South, a development southern states have frowned upon.
Expressing concern about the development, the SGF said, “This is not the time for movement of Almajirai because of interstate lockdown. If you say interstate movements are banned, I don’t think that movements of Almajirai are essential movements.”
Mustapha urged state governments to align their actions and enforcement with the guidelines provided by the PTF.
“The virus does not respect boundaries neither does it respect status. All state governments are, therefore, urged to strengthen their monitoring and enforcement machinery in collaboration with the security agencies,” he stated.
You should be ready to go through validation, PTF tells researchers
The SGF urged researchers to come up with home grown drugs and vaccines for the treatment of COVID-19.
He, however, said they must be patient to go through the validation process to establish safety of their drugs and avoid litigation
He said, “Since the recording of the index case, Nigerians have clamoured for research into home grown solutions to COVID-19.
“The PTF, as part of its mandate, has continued to promote research and wishes to repeat its appeal to all our researchers to go through the validation process so as to enable humanity to benefit from their hard work and they in turn benefit from the intellectual property rights associated with such research.”
