The Federal College of Education (FCE), Okene, has commenced production of high quality hand sanitisers in partnership with Kogi government to curtail the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr Peter Ovansa, Registrar of the College, disclosed this in Lokoja on Tuesday when the management of the institution paid a courtesy visit on the State Ministry of Health.
Ovansa said the decision of the college to partner the state was in appreciation of the vital role the state government had been playing since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, through the ministry.
Ovansa said to further strengthen the partnership, the college encouraged its Chemistry Department to embark on the production of quality hand sanitisers and as well offer expert advice on infectious diseases to combat the virus.
The Registrar called on the Ministry to come to the aid of the college in the area of provision of test kits and training of laboratory staff to enhance Covid-19 testing in the state.
Dr Saka Haruna, the state commissioner for Health, who received the sanitisers on behalf of the state government, thanked the institution for its efforts and promised sustained partnership in the efforts to curtail the spread of the disease.
Also presenting the sanitisers to the State Council Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) at the NUJ Secretariat, Lokoja, the registrar said the production of the sanitisers was the institution’s contribution to the global response to the pandemic.
He said soon after the declaration of the disease as a pandemic, the price of hand sanitisers went up astronomically thereby taking it out of the reach of the poor masses.
He said the sanitiser was clinically produced, met international standard and the World Health Organisation (WHO) requirement, adding that the product had been certified by NAFDAC.
The NUJ Chairman, Alhaji Momoh-Jimoh Adeiza, congratulated the institution for producing the sanitisers at this critical stage of the disease.
Adeiza challenged the institution to do more in the global effort to develop a vaccine to cure the disease and enjoined relevant agencies to support the institution to mass produce the sanitisers and make them affordable for the common man. (NAN)