Paulinus Aidoghie, Abuja
The United States has given reasons it is assisting Nigeria with $6.7million to fight Coronavirus in the country.
The amount, which is being expended through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), according to the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Mary Beth Leonard, is nothing ‘other than altruistic reasons and it is the right thing to do.’
The funds, Leonard added, would be disbursed towards areas such as risk communication, water and sanitation activities, infection prevention and control, and coordination.
The assistance, the United States envoy added, is in addition to the more than $5.2 billion in the United States health assistance and more than $8.1 billion in total assistance the State Department and USAID provided for Nigeria over the past 20 years.
Leonard also said that the United States was making the intervention as pandemics do not respect national borders, adding that if the United States could help countries contain outbreaks, the United States would be saving lives abroad and at home.
In an Op-Ed released yesterday, Leonard said: “The story of U.S. leadership in the global battle against Covid-19 is a story of days, months, and decades. Every day, new U.S. technical and material assistance arrives in hospitals and labs around the world. These efforts, in turn, build on a decades-long foundation of American expertise, generosity, and planning that is unmatched in history.”