Private Sector Key To Nigeria’s COVID-19 campaign, Says Kwara Gov

By Steve Oni, Ilorin

Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has noted that the organised private sector has played strategic roles in Nigeria’s campaign against COVID-19 pandemic.

AbdulRazaq commended their efforts which he said included the setting up of isolation centres, medical supports to various states, and the recent donation of food palliatives to vulnerable households across the country.

The Governor spoke in Ilorin, the state capital, at the flag off of the distribution of the food palliatives donated by the private sector-led Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the state.

“We are very appreciative of the efforts by CACOVID in the fight against COVID-19. This is not the first. They were with us at the isolation centre where they made donations of medical supplies and other things . The food palliative is another move. We are really grateful for their interventions to governments across the country,” AbdulRazaq said.

The CACOVID food palliatives to Kwara were 27,360 bags of semolina; 27,360 bags of sugar; 27,360 cartons of pasta; 27,360 bags of salt; 27,360 (10kg) bags of rice; and 54,720 cartons of noodles.

AbdulRazaq said the government would work with CACOVID team to ensure that the palliatives get to the intended beneficiaries — again commending the government’s committee led by Emir of Shonga Dr Haliru Yahya and the civil society organisations for the great job done in the distribution of government’s palliatives.

“I must mention Alhaji Aliko Dangote and others for this feat. They have spent billions of naira to distribute food to all the states. But they understand that they cannot give foods to all Nigerians and that is why it is targeted at the vulnerable families. We are working with them to ensure that it goes to the ward level,” he said.

“Unlike what we distributed earlier, this is for (specific) households and I want to appeal to our people to understand that. This is not the time to say what I got is too small. Whatever you get, please say AlhamduliLlah. CACOVID has a template and we will allow them to make use of their template for the distribution. We will follow their template. I sincerely thank the Emir of Shonga, Dr Yahya Haliru, other members of the state committee, and the civil society organisations for the way they handled the distribution of the state’s palliatives. I also thank all the traditional rulers for the way they handled COVID-19 issue.”

CACOVID Representative and Zonal Head of Access Bank Muhammed Adelabu said the coalition came together to rally support for the Nigerian governments in the fight against the pandemic, adding that the coalition has so far commissioned 38 isolation centres and donated over 100,000 test kits and various personal protective equipments across the 36 states of the country.

“Today, we have commenced the third phase of our intervention plan in the fight to combat and eradicate COVID-19 in Nigeria; the CACOVID National Food Relief Programme which will see the distribution of various food items to over 1.6m families i.e over 10 million Nigerians across the country,” Adelabu said.

“We are doing this to help the most vulnerable households that have been affected by the coronavirus.”

Isa Ibrahim, whose household received from the CACOVID palliatives, commended the private sector-led initiative for their support and the state government for its laudable efforts to combat the virus as well as spread development to every corner of the state.

Tunde Mohammed, another beneficiary, also lauded the initiative and the praised the Governor for his “developmental strides especially in the areas of water, road, and health where we can see things for ourselves.”