As part of efforts to help the Federal Government stem the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will, today, present $180,000-worth of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to the National Hospital, Abuja.
Revealing this yesterday, the church’s Area Authority Seventy, Elder Christian Chigbundu, who was represented by President Alarebe Obinna, of Abuja Nigeria Lugbe Stake, said the PPEs are part of its intervention to help government mitigate the effect of COVID-19 in the country.
He said the Lagos State, last year, got over $40,000 worth of medical equipment, just as donations were also made to Internally Displaced Persons across the country.
Between 2018 and 2020, the Latter-Day Saints according Chigbundu, donated equipment worth $20 million across partner states, including Osun, Oyo, Edo, Enugu and Oyo.
Also the church provided wheelchairs, primary healthcare and emergency response equipment to hospitals as well as helped to tackle flooding in these states.
Last year, the church donated PPEs to states, during the first wave of COVID-19 in Nigeria and also reached out with paliatives to over 4,000 families nationwide.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, “we distributed food in Lagos, Ogun, while face masks have been distributed in Edo (Benin), Enugu (Enugu), Port Harcourt (Rivers), Uyo (Akwa Ibom) and Owerri (Imo) states,” Elder Chigbundu said.
He also disclosed that that the church has also provided solar light and boreholes in IDP camps in Abuja.
Elder Chigbundu said the church, which was established on April 6, 1830, in New York, the United States of America, will, between February 25 and February 27, 2021, teach Nigerians “about genealogy. How you can trace your ancestors,” with specific reference to how it was done in the Bible on “how, in the Book Matthew, Jesus Christ’s genealogy was traced…” The church, which is 43 years old in Nigeria, has also provided humanitarian services in over 170 countries, regardless of faith as it places emphasis on assistance to the needy.
“The best of our resources go to the rural areas, where they are needed more,” he said.
