President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday admitted that the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has started affecting the nation’s revenue negatively.
The President made this known when workers in the health sector, under the auspices of Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and Assembly Healthcare Professionals Associations (AHPA), paid him a courtesy call in his office.
The President, in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, appealed to the health workers to consider the current state of the economy and be moderate in their demands, assuring that government was looking into their issues with a view to resolving them.
He said: “Your case is certainly receiving attention, but you must bear in mind the condition that the country is in now. Coronavirus is not improving matters. It is affecting what we very much depend on, the petroleum industry and therefore revenue,” he said.
President Buhari also called on the visitors to appeal to the patriotic sentiments of their members in these trying times and continue to work for further development of the country.
“So please try and help us with your people. Let us be patriotic, let us look at the ways and means of the government and appeal for restraint.
“We have to emphasize that it is very important we maintain cohesion together, because if we allow sentiments or popularity to overwhelm our reasoning faculties, we will be in trouble and it will be too late for us to adjust, so please bear with us,” said the President.
JOHESU, an amalgam of five registered trade unions and AHPA, under the leadership of Comrade Biobelemoye Joy Josiah, had come to intimate the President with some of the contentious issues in the sector and to thank him for some of the positive developments.
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