Aso Villa Reads for 23/06/2020

Every day, we bring you the best stories that the Media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria

The EU and United Nations received delivery of vital supplies to help the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. The shipment, along with others coming soon, are procured through the One UN COVID-19 Basket Fund with a significant contribution from the EU — and will be valued at more than USD 22 million. The current shipment includes, among other items, 545 oxygen concentrators, more than 100,000 test kits, infrared digital no-touch thermometers, numerous personal protective equipment (PPEs), laboratory supplies and emergency health kits that will boost the Nigerian Government’s efforts COVID-19 response and care for those affected by the coronavirus. The essential medical supplies will enhance efforts of the frontline responders providing care and treatment to people affected by the virus, increase testing capacity and early detection of those affected by the virus, and support the hospitalisation and management of COVID-19 cases. The supplies were handed over to the Government of Nigeria through the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) and the NPHCDA and was officially presented to the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 at an event attended by high-level delegates from the EU, Ministry of Health and UN. “The arrival of the medical supplies will be a boost to the Government’s efforts to provide an efficient and effective healthcare response for those affected by the virus. These vital supplies co-funded by the EU will help us to both protect healthcare workers and ensure people are tested and treated as quickly as possible to save lives,” said Mr. Edward Kallon, the UN’s Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria.

The Heads of State and Governments of the 15 Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) member states have endorsed the candidature of Nigeria’s former Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, for the position of the Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The West African leaders, in a statement signed by President of Niger, who is also ECOWAS President, Mahamadou Issoufou, also called on other African countries and non-African countries to endorse her candidature for the plum job. THISDAY obtained a copy of the statement, dated June 19, 2020, yesterday. The West African leaders recalled the communication by the Chairman of the General Council of the WTO announcing the commencement of a process for the appointment of a new director general of the organisation, with the opening and closing dates of nominations set as June 8 and July 8 respectively. “Having acknowledged the strong academic and professional background of Dr. Okonjo-Iweala and her very large experience in national affairs as Nigeria’s Finance Minister (2003 -2006 and 2011–2015) and Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister briefly in 2016; having further acknowledged her long years of managerial experience at the top of multilateral institutions, her established reputation as a fearless reformer, her excellent negotiating and political skills, her experience of over 30 years as a development economist with a long standing interest in trade, her excellent academic qualification, her positions as Managing Director, World Bank, and currently as Board Chair, Gavi, and African Union Special Envoy to Mobilise Financial Resources for the fight against COVID-19, ECOWAS endorses the candidature of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the position of director general of the WTO for the period 2021–2025,” they stated.

The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin has met with the Service Chiefs and Heads of Security and Intelligence Agencies to deliberate on the security situation in parts of the country. The meeting which held on Monday in Abuja, was one of the series of meetings meant to re-strategize and enhance existing synergy among all security agencies to address the lingering security challenges. The parley followed the Riot Act read to the security chiefs by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), last week, where he ordered them to brace and address the insecurity in the country. The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. John Enenche, explained in a statement on Tuesday that the meeting which was well attended by the security chiefs “centered on developing and mapping out new strategies to promptly address the untoward security situation arising from banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling as well as other sundry criminalities particularly in the North West, North East and North Central parts of the country.” The service chiefs and heads of security agencies reportedly noted that essential consultations had been made with relevant stakeholders across the country with a view to collaborating with the military and security agencies to bring respite to the regions. The statement read, “The CDS who pointed out that security is everyone’s business, solicited the support and cooperation of all well-meaning Nigerians for the Armed Forces and security agencies in tackling the security challenges in Nigeria in order to speedily restore sanity to the troubled regions.” Punch reports.

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Tuesday, raised concerns over the planned single currency for the Economic Community of West African States. He said the plan for the single currency, Eco, could be in serious jeopardy,” unless member states complied with agreed processes of reaching the collective goal. The Eco is the proposed name for the common currency that the West African Monetary Zone plans to introduce in the framework of ECOWAS. According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President delivered Nigeria’s position on the new regional currency at a virtual extraordinary meeting of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the West African Monetary Zone. According to Punch, the meeting was said to have discussed the implementation of the ECOWAS Monetary Cooperation Programme and the ECOWAS Single Currency Agenda. Buhari was said to have expressed concern over the decision of francophone countries that form the West African Economic and Monetary Union to replace the CFA Franc with Eco ahead of the rest of member states. He recalled that member states reverted to a single-track approach, giving up Eco which is the original idea of the WAMZ so the ECOWAS-wide programme could thrive. He added that they have made remarkable progress, including the adoption of the exchange rate regime, the name, and model of the common Central Bank and the symbol.

The Federal Government is putting together an intervention programme for the upgrade of infrastructure in slums across the country. It stated that the programme would be in collaboration with state governments, adding that the initiative was also aimed at lifting Nigerians out of poverty. The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said this during a live television programme on NTA monitored by Punch correspondent in Abuja. He said, “The National Housing Programme that we started in 2016 had to be first discussed at the National Council on Housing before it could take place. “So issues about slums were also being discussed there but the final solution lies with what each state does within its own territory. As I speak to you, the Ministry of Works and Housing at the national level is putting together a slum intervention programme, but we cannot do it without collaboration with the states.” He added, “This is now an initiative post COVID-19 and we are looking at how we can make life easier for people in those places. Some will just perhaps need a drainage; others will need a drainage and a road. Some will need a remodeling of their water source.”