There is no doubt that the curfew imposed by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state will affect everyone living in Delta. Although there is a positive reason for imposing the 48 hour curfew, two set of people will be heavily affected negatively by the curfew.
If you count 48 hours beginning from Thursday 6pm, it is expected to elapse on Saturday at 6pm, making it 48 hours. If you doubt me, do your mathematics very well, you will understand.
Now, some people have already fixed their wedding and burial ceremonies for Friday and Saturday in Delta state. Everybody in Nigeria knows that Friday and Saturday are mainly devoted to these two events.
Organisers of these events must have rented halls, invited guests, paid for food, bought clothing materials and mounted pressure on their fashion designers to complete the clothes for Friday and Saturday. I guess you understand. These days are very important to them.
Now, what happens to these events? Will the governor and overzealous security men allow them to go ahead with these ceremonies that have been concluded before the governor’s declaration? What happens to their food, though may not have been cooked but must have been paid for?
Why happend to their invitation cards that have been sent out days, weeks or.months ahead of these days? What happened to the money paid for the halls and event centres? How will the bride and groom be feeling by now?
From my understanding of the governor’s pronouncement, it is akin to the COVID-19 lockdown where people were compelled to stay indoors for weeks without food. The COVID-19 announcement was even better because it gave a space of few days but not so with this.
My major concern is those who have these two events of burial and weddings whose plans have been concluded and sealed. Let’s watch and we how it plays out on Friday and Saturday.
