Nigerian Corporations Rally Round NCDC In The Fight Against Coronavirus
As the battle to minimize the impact of the global pandemic in Nigeria wages on, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has continued to receive support from companies and private individuals alike as it becomes increasingly evident that all hands must be on deck to effectively defeat the virus that currently threatens not just Nigeria but the entire world.
Rising to the occasion, Guaranty Trust Bank announced its collaboration with the Lagos State Government in the conversion of Teslim Balogun Stadium to an Isolation Centre, while United Bank for Africa Plc. announced the donation of $14m across Africa to catalyse a pan-african response to controlling the spread of the pandemic across the continent. Indigenous auto manufacturer, Innoson Vehicles has announced the conversion of its assembly lines to commence production of ventilators while Vitafoam has begun donation of mattresses and pillows to isolation centres around Lagos State.
While receiving the Isolation Facility on behalf of the Lagos State Government, the Executive Governor, Babajide Sanwoolu expressed his appreciation to individuals and corporate bodies who have assisted the government to curb the spread of the deadly virus.
“My appreciation also goes to individuals and corporate bodies who have reached out and assisted us in different ways. We are all in this together, and together we shall prevail.” The Governor enthused.
Leading ICT and telecommunications company, MTN has joined the list of Nigerian corporations who have merged forces with NCDC in the fight against the Coronavirus.
The NCDC announced via its official Twitter handle that it had received support from MTN to ensure that mobile users are receiving verified information on COVID-19. Media reports revealed that the support from MTN was to boost the Centre’s Surveillance, Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System (SORMAS) tool which helps to digitalise disease surveillance by capturing, collating and displaying data for prompt decision making.
Further details of the report confirmed that the donation from MTN included 1,200 SIM packs, provisioned with N100,000 airtime and 3GB data monthly for an initial period of six months; 38 toll-free lines (premium numbers) and 38 MTN Smart feature phones for the toll-free lines; 10 MiFi devices; and Daily COVID-19 prevention messages to all MTN subscribers from NCDC. The support is its immediate intervention which is part of a bigger Yello Hope Package aimed at supporting its customers and government in the battle against the pandemic.
According to the Chief Corporate Services Officer, MTN Nigeria Tobechukwu Okigbo, the company will continue to engage with the government and relevant stakeholders in pursuit of new ways to leverage their core expertise, technology and infrastructure to support the government’s efforts to keep the citizens safe. ‘In the next few days, we believe that the various conversations around partnerships will start yielding visible results,” Mr. Okigbo added.
This support is expected to scale-up real-time surveillance of COVID-19 in Nigeria enhancing the capacity of individual states to strengthen preparedness and timely response to the pandemic.
Consequently, General Muhammadu has directed a lockdown on all movements in Lagos, Abuja and Ogun states for a period of two weeks starting from Monday, March 30, 2020.
“Based on the advice of the Federal Ministry of Health and the NCDC, I am directing the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days with effect from 11pm on Monday, 30th March 2020. This restriction will also apply to Ogun State due to its close proximity to Lagos and the high traffic between the two States. All citizens in these areas are to stay in their homes. Travel to or from other states should be postponed. All businesses and offices within these locations should be fully closed during this period.” President Buhari added.
Presently, there are a total of 139 infected persons in Nigeria, according to information from the NCDC. Lagos has the highest number of cases with 82, Abuja has 28, Oyo eight, Ogun four and Osun 5. Kaduna has three and the states of Bauchi, Edo and Enugu all have two respectively; while Rivers, Benue, and Ekiti have one case each.
