President Muhammadu Buhari said that the Nigerian economy is too fragile to go into another lockdown, as the second wave of coronavirus forces some European countries – Germany and France, to enter another phase of lockdown.

The President disclosed this in a social media statement on Thursday afternoon via his official Twitter handle.

Buhari said Nigeria will work hard to control its local spread, as the country can’t afford a lockdown.

“Looking at the trends in other countries, we must do all we can to avert a second wave of COVID-19 in Nigeria. We must make sure that our cases, which have gone down, do not rise again. Our economy is too fragile to bear another round of lockdown,” President Buhari said.

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What you should know

According to a Bloomberg report, the rising cases of COVID-19 in Europe have led to another phase of lockdowns, with the Eurozone’s 2 biggest economies, Germany and France announcing new lockdowns restrictions.

“The measures we’ve taken have turned out to be insufficient to counter a wave that’s affecting all Europe,” said French President Emmanuel Macron

In August, Nairametrics reported that President  Buhari approved the extension of the second phase of eased lockdown by another 4 weeks.

Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in real terms declined by 6.10% (year-on-year) in Q2 2020, ending the 3-year trend of low but positive real growth rates recorded since the 2016/17 recession.