Adebayo Abdulrahman
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the ruling party in Oyo State, is set to hold a unification rally today in Ibadan, the State capital despite worries about free-spreading Coronavirus disease globally.
The plan to hold the unification rally was announced by the Executive Governor of Oyo State, Abiodun Oluwaseyi Makinde while speaking at a South-West Stakeholders’ meeting of the PDP held at the Government House, Agodi, Ibadan, on Thursday.
According to him, “I have the pleasure to also let you know that we are planning a unification rally on the 18th of March here in Ibadan and we would be using Mapo Hall. At that unification rally, the former governor of Osun State and former national secretary of our great party, Chief Olagunsoye Oyinlola, would be coming back formally into the party. So, I am using this opportunity to invite all the stakeholders from all the states in the region to mark that date to celebrate the party.”
However, the plan to hold the unification rally at a moment when the global community is battling Coronavirus – a disease the World Health Organization(WHO) has declared to be an epidemic.
Even though Nigeria has currently confirmed only three cases of coronavirus and no deaths, the controversy surrounding the third case has aroused suspicion over the possibility of more cases.
According to the World Health Organization, one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of the disease that has killed over 7,000 people globally, mainly in China, Italy, Iran, and South Korea is to “maintain social distancing to at least 1 metre (3 feet) distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing”.
Considering the population people expected in a unification rally the Governor claimed would be used “send a very strong signal out that the South-West (PDP) is ready to lead the charge again” It is quite impossible to maintain the physical distance recommended by WHO to prevent the spread of the epidemic that originated in China in 2019.
