SAN FRANCISCO, September 27, (THEWILL) – The Rivers State Government has announced the reopening of schools.
In a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Paulinus Nsirim disclosed that Schools in the State will reopen on Oct. 5, 2020.
According to him, the State Executive Council took the decision at an emergency session chaired by Gov. Nyesom Wike at Government House, Port Harcourt. He added tha the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Kaniye Ebeku announced the date for reopening of schools at the end of the meeting.
He also quoted Ebeku as saying that all Secondary Schools, Vocational Schools, Universities and other Tertiary Institutions were affected by the directive.
Nsirim however, said that Council did not approve the reopening of primary schools based on expert medical advice. He added that the Council also approved the setting up of a Seven-member Taskforce to monitor and enforce compliance with COVID-19 protocols in the various schools.
The Taskforce has the Administrator of Greater Port Harcourt, Ambassador Desmond Akawor as Chairman, while Mr. Rufus Godwins, Head of the State Civil Service; Commissioner for Health, Prof. Princewill Chike; Commissioner for Social Welfare, Mrs. Inime Aguma; Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mrs. Ifeyinwa Nwankpa and Commissioner for Information and Communications, Paulinus Nsirim are to serve as members. The Commissioner for Education, Professor Kaniye Ebeku is to serve as Secretary.
Meanwhile, the State Government has approved COVID-19 guidelines for marriages and weddings, with a fine of N10million by violators.
The Commissioner for Information and Communications, Paulinus Nsirim disclosed that prospective couples would be required to apply to the state governor through the Commissioner for Social Welfare and Rehabilitation.
According to Nsirim, “such application must be accompanied with key information- the venue of the ceremony, names, addresses and phones numbers of attendees.” This is to make “contact tracing easy for the Government”, he added.
Those seeking to bury their loved ones would also be expected to include names, addresses and phone numbers of those to attend such funerals in their applications.
Nsirim said marriages would not have more than 50 attendees including family members. Attendees must “wear face masks and adhere strictly to social distancing of not less than two meters”, he said.
According to him, while church weddings must be conducted between 9am and 12noon, traditional marriages would be conducted between 4pm and 7pm.
The commissioner said venues of marriages must have provisions for running water and soap at three points. “The venue must be decontaminated after the event”, he added.
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