…ask FG for special intervention Funds
By Gift Chapi Odekina
The House of Representatives on Teusday during plenary in Abuja resolved to engage the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 over strange deaths in Kano.
The House also urged the Federal Government to establish testing centres in each of Nigeria’s local government councils and incorporate traditional rulers and religious leaders into the fight against the pandemic.
The House further requested that the FG to provide special intervention fund for Kano state.
These resolutions followed a motion of urgent national public importance moved by the house Leader,Ado Doguwa.
Moving the motion, Doguwa noted that the country has so far recorded 1,337 confirmed cases of Covid-19, 40 deaths and 255 recoveries
Equally mindful that the Federal Government has released the sum of N5 billion to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control NCDC, to scale up capacity and strategize rapid response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The leader expressed worry that the rising spate of unexplained deaths in Kano State in recent weeks, where 77 Covid-19 cases and 1 death have been recorded in less than two weeksbwas alarming.
“Aware that Kano State being the most populated state of the federation, according to the National Population Commission has only one testing centre which has been shut down for about a week now, reportedly due to lack of some testing materials and reagents.
“Concerned that Nigeria has so far tested a paltry 10,918 0f its estimated 200million population whereas Ghana, South Africa and Egypt with much lower population have tested 168,643, 100,622, and 90,000 0f their people respectively.
“Aware that Nigeria currently has the capacity for 3,000 tests in a day where as South Africa has nearly 10,000 tests capacity per day.
“He expressed concern that Nigeria has so far only 15 testing centres one each in Kano, Sokoto, Borno, Kaduna, Plateu, Oyo, Osun, Edo, and Ebonyi State 2 in the FCT and 3 in Lagos.
“Conscious of the fact that whereas sample collection and transportation remain in a critical challenge in Nigeria’s fight against COVID-19, according to NCDC, Ghana has since engaged the services of drone technology in the delivery of samples to help save lives more quickly and drones also have the capacity to deliver test kits and personal protection equipment.
“Convinced of the urgent need to arrest the rising cases of unexplained deaths in Kano state and also scale up national response to the Corona Virus pandemic, including the establishment of at least one testing centre in every state of the Federation to save the nation from the grave scenario being witnessed in Kano State.
Debating on the motion, Rep.Toby Okechukwu said that there was an urgent need for a serious intervention by the Federal Government.
“It is Kano state today, it could be any other state tomorrow. That we must get it right and put an end to the Coronavirus.
” There is need for collaboration between FG and states to wide away the pandemic in quick time.
Rep. Haruna Msheila from Borno also speaking said as a medical doctor of many years said that he has never heard of a virus called Corona or COVID-19. Hence the need for FG to engage communities and community leaders to explain to the people the situation of things. This is against the backdrop that many people in the localities do not believe that Corona virus is real
