Nigerian scientists should lead fight against coronavirus not politicians – ASUU

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has warned that scientists and not politicians in government positions should lead the fight against  coronavirus.

NAN reports that Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, ASUU President, spoke at a news conference in Abuja on Monday.

He regretted that Nigeria’s health facilities were not equipped with adequate staff to respond to the global pandemic.

ASUU declared that it was not convinced that government at various levels are doing enough now that the nation must grapple with the globalised disease.

“Our union expects government to use Nigerian scientists and other critical stakeholders to fight the pandemic.

“Unfortunately, what we see are groups of politicians and bureaucrats assuming leadership in the fight against the virus.

“We truly hope government officials are not toying with the lives of Nigerians and exploiting the situations for self aggrandisement.”

He said Nigeria needed a command structure led by experts like researchers, scholars and medical scientists.

Ogunyemi warned that the current coronavirus cases has the potential of increasing exponentially in the coming days.

He added that many universities had epidemiologists who should be called in to join the fight against COVID -19.

“We need them to develop models for curbing the disease spread Data from these experts will create the required pathways for speedy arrest of the pandemic”, the ASUU leader noted.