Doris Obinna
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) committee on novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on Wednesday announced the donation of N10 billion made by the President, Muhammedu Buhari as support for fighting the virus during the team’s visit to Lagos to inspect the isolation facilities put in place by the state government for the control of the virus.
The state government in addition to the donation, got the lion-share of the personal protective equipment (PPE), facemask, face shield and overall gowns) donated to Nigeria by a Chinese philanthropist, Mr. Jack Ma.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman PTF, Boss Mustapha, in his remarks, said his office had been authorized for the deployment on loan of 25 Hilux vehicles from Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to Lagos to support contact tracing.
According to him, Buhari has also approved the release of 70,000 metric tons of grains from the strategic grains reserve for the physically challenged, the elderly and the vulnerable, in recognition of the impact of the lockdown order and payment of two months Conditional Cash Transfer to 2.6 million poor and vulnerable already registered in the social safety net program.
“Out of this, about 6,800 will be distributed in Lagos, Ogun and FCT while the rest will be distributed to the 13 frontline states that have recorded cases of the COVID-19 disease. I assure you that the distribution of the Lagos state share will commence shortly.
“This is to assure Nigerians of the unwavering commitment of Mr. President to this war against COVID-19 to achieve our national objectives.”
He said: “The pandemic is the most significant public health emergency of international concern, having recorded over 1 million cases, causing over 50,000 deaths worldwide as well as significant disruption to healthcare system particularly in low and middle-income countries. In our case, the economy is also adversely affected.
“Since the inauguration of the PTF, the nation has been briefed on a daily basis in Abuja on the developments, especially at the domestic level. I therefore wish to seize the opportunity of this national briefing in Lagos, to inform you that the national response both at the Federal and Sub-national levels is a unified one, carefully guided by the National Multi-sectoral COVID-19 Pandemic Response Plan.
“We are also working in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) for guidance on issues of standardization and global policies.”
Mustapha stated that the cumulative effort for the control of COVID-19 in Nigeria has attracted commendation from the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General. “This assures us that we are working on the right path.
“The UN family in Nigeria has similarly launched the COVID-19 One Basket Fund, which was designed to serve as the One COVID-19 Financing and Investment Platform, for mobilization of resources.”
He emphasized that the nation is at war with an unseen but very potent enemy. “To successfully prosecute this war, we must own it, we must participate in it, we must create awareness, we must obey rules and regulations, we must stay at home when ordered and we must not conceal any information from the medical and disease control authorities.”
He said: “One person who is infected in a community can endanger the entire community regardless of its size and status or position of the people living there. The virus is real and dangerous.
“To this regard, the strategy adopted by the PTF working in conjunction with the states, include; testing, detection, isolation, contact tracing and management, which resulted into other strict measures.”
“At this point that it is not the desire of government to punish its citizen by restricting their movement, but rather out of the abundance of caution, that difficult decision was taken to save lives by preventing spread.
“Reports have been received on the general level of satisfactory compliance in Lagos with the lockdown order and we have similarly received reports of violations. In this case, I commend the instant action taken by the State by prosecuting and convicting notable violators, which shows that nobody should be above the law.”
While commending the state, he said: “The state has magnificently controlled the pandemic, put in place isolation centers, ICU facilities as well as established a wide network of contact tracing.
“The Commissioner for Health in Lagos State, Prof Akin Abayomi, has also been serving as the Chair of the Committee of experts set up by the Federal Government to evaluate and accredit private medical facilities and other centers for the management of COVID-19 cases.”