In view of the successes being recorded by the Lagos State Government in reducing the spread of the deadly Coronavirus disease, Night Club owners have pleaded with the State Governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu to consider the reopening of their businesses, just as they promised to ensure strict adherence to all existing COVID-19 safety protocols.
According to a post on the official instagram handle of the ministry of tourism, state, representatives of owners of night clubs in the State made this plea when they visited the leadership of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture in Alausa, Ikeja, over the inactivity in the sector since the State wide lockdown last year.
The Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, while welcoming the visitors, empathised with the night club operators, explaining that the State Government understands the pains, the financial losses and the employment threat which the inactivity in the Sector could have generated.
She lamented the inability of practitioners in the night club business to come together as a unified group for ease of interaction and exchange of correspondence, saying that the night club owners do not belong to any umbrella body or recognised association known to the Ministry.
This, the Commissioner said, made it difficult for the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, to relate with them, while also accommodating their position on some salient issues as it affects their operations.
Akinbile-Yussuf expressed the fear of another surge in the reported cases of COVID-19, saying that the State Government is now more circumspect than before, so that its efforts and successes already recorded in stemming the spread of the virus will not be thwarted.
Bonu affirmed that some clubhouses are still in operation contrary to the directive from the government, describing the development as very daring and illegal.