Onyeama also said the affected hotels had rather preferred to be empty than accommodate suspected Coronavirus patients.
The minister disclosed this at the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 daily press briefing in Abuja.
He explained that the challenge was that the ministry
had to look for quarantine centres approved by medical experts, adding
however that most hotels in Abuja and Lagos that were approached were
not willing to be used.
Onyeama however stated that the ministry had been able
to identify some hotels in Lagos and Abuja which, according to him, the
governor of Lagos played a significant role to secure some hotels in
Lagos.
He stated that the challenge now was how to bring down
the prices of the hotels, stressing that the returnees had some
resources challenge and might not be able to cope with the bills.
Onyeama added that the government would have to look for
a way to stand in for them, adding that the hotels secured also wanted
to be paid in advance before the retunnes can be quarantined.
He also said that there were certain measures that
needed to be considered before bringing Nigerians willing to return from
abroad.
The minister explained that the measures were to
forestall jeopardising the success the country had recorded in the fight
against COVID-19
Also speaking, the Minister of State for Education, Mr
Emeka Nwajiuba, said that until the reopening of the economy by
President Muhammadu Buhari students across the country might not resume.
He said that the Federal Government could not afford to
put the lives of the students in jeopardy; hence the school would reopen
at the appropriate time.
He also said that the West African Examination Council
(WAEC) bill to take place in June had not been cancelled, but added that
the examination would now be written at an indefinite time. (NAN)
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