FG, UBA, others remain committed, contributes billions to fight Coronavirus in Nigeria
By Ndubuisi Micheal Obineme
Following the outbreak of COVID-19 also known as Coronavirus in Nigeria on 27th February 2020, the Federal Government of Nigeria has made an impressive move to mitigate the spread of the virus and to protect the lives of the Nigerian people, and businesses throughout the country.
In a live broadcast message, President Buhari announced that the FG have introduced healthcare measures, border security, restrictive movement, fiscal and monetary policies (Intervention Funds), to continue the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria.
There has also been a lockdown of schools, businesses, markets, airports and travel ban on 13 countries with high cases of the virus, and a Stay at Home Policy in Nigeria that will last up to 14 days, introduced by the Nigerian government in order to use the period to trace and isolate all individuals that have come into contact with confirmed cases of the deadly Coronavirus.
According to a statement from President Muhammadu Buhari, FG has approved a 15 billion Naira grant to fight the spread of coronavirus in the country.
He explained that N10 billion will be given to Lagos State, which has the highest number of coronavirus cases in the country. While N5 billion is a special intervention fund to the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC). The funds will be used to equip, expand and provide personnel to its facilities and laboratories across the country
Moving forward, wealthy Nigerian entrepreneurs and organizations, including banks, have also donated billions of Naira to help fund medical centers and provide essential materials necessary to curtail the spread of coronavirus in the country.
The United Bank for Africa (UBA) made a donation of 5 billion Naira (about $13 million) to provide beds for isolation centers, intensive care unit facilities and direct access to medical advice to up to 450,000 citizens every day.
“This global pandemic must bring citizens, governments and business leaders together — and quickly. As we see a rapidly increasing number of cases of the coronavirus in Nigeria and Africa, the private sector has to work hand in hand with various Governments, in stemming the spread of the global pandemic,” Tony Elumelu, UBA Chairman said
According to NCDC, as of 5th April, 232 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. Thirty-three has been discharged with five deaths.
For a breakdown of Coronavirus cases by state, please see below:
Lagos- 120
FCT- 47
Osun- 20
Oyo- 9
Edo- 9
Bauchi- 6
Akwa Ibom- 5
Ogun- 4
Kaduna- 5
Enugu- 2
Ekiti- 2
Rivers-1
Benue- 1
Ondo- 1
The NCDC has been at the forefront of the coronavirus pandemic, compiling numbers and responding to suspected cases of the virus.
