*CCECC donates 500-bed facility isolation centre in FCT
The federal government said Tuesday that it is working on a fiscal frame work to provide grants to researchers, science institutions and biotechnology firms to develop vaccines that can cure Coronavirus.
This was disclosed by the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Mr Godwin Emefiele at the commissioning of Thisday Dome COVID-19 Testing, Tracing and Treatment Centre in Abuja commissioned by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and chairman of the Presidential Task Force on the Control of COVID-19, Mr Boss Mustapha.
“The CBN governor said the CBN is developing a framework under which grants and long term facilities will be provided to researchers, science institutions and biotechnology firms to develop the Nigerian vaccine,” he said.
The CBN governor called on Nigerian scientists to go back to their laboratories and develop a Nigerian vaccine.
“Once validated by the Health Authorities, the CBN will step in and do the needful for the sake of over 200 million Nigerians now confronted by COVID-19”
“Our inability to accurately predict the extent to which the coronavirus could spread, and how long it would last, requires that we build sufficient capacity within our health system in order to contain the spread of the virus, state by state, city by city and preserve the lives of vulnerable Nigerians.
“This requires that we all come together to support the ‘work of the Presidential Task Force in it’s determination to save lives and stem the pandemic,” he said.
He said Nigeria’s ability to restore the growth of the economy is dependent on how the country addresses the public health crisis brought by COVID-19.
Also speaking, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and chairman of the Presidential Task Force on the Control of COVID-19, Mr Boss Mustapha, commended the Nigerian private sector for its support, under the Coalition against COVID-19.
“So far, the CA-COVlD-19 has raised up to N27 Billion to fund these initiatives. These donations are being used to build well equipped isolation centres across the 36 states of the federation.
“It is great to see how collaboration between the private and public sector is advancing our response to the pandemic robustly. All the stakeholders have worked collectively to make the process of bringing in medical equipment and establishing more synergy seamlessly,” he said.
In his remarks, the Managing Director of CCECC, Micheal Jiang, said the company made a donation of a 500-bed isolation facility to government in the Idu area of the Federal Capital Territory.
He said the commitment of China in assisting the Nigerian government to overcome COVID-19 has never waned, stressing that since the outbreak of the disease, CCECC has made several donations to the federal government.
