By Kenneth Jukpor
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) handed over N20million donation, three ventilators, an ambulance and fast intervention vessels to the Lagos State government to support the fight against coronavirus.
The Director General, NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh presented the items yesterday in Lagos, even as he assured that NIMASA would continue to play the role of a responsible tenant with its headquarters situated in Lagos State.
While presenting the donations, Dr. Jamoh commended the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his team for the exemplary leadership displayed in managing the Covid-19 in the last few weeks.
He, however, pointed out that the N20 million donation was part of the N50million support the agency announced earlier, noting that N30 million would go to Abuja because Federal Government had approved five stadia for them.
According to him, NIMASA is working hard both with the internal and external stakeholders to fashion out strategic effort that will be put in place to fight the coronavirus menace.
“We are here to present some of the items and materials that will be used in this fight against Covid-19. We have ventilators and testing materials, ambulance, fire brigade machine to be used to spray chemicals to reduce the virus.
“Others are 36-sitter bus, 16-sitter bus, oxygen concentrator, personal protective equipment, hand sanitizers and also there will be handy volunteers to work with the Lagos government and experts that will use the fire engine machine,” he said.
The NIMASA boss also presented fast intervention vessels to enable to state exploit the waterways in combating the pandemic via waterways, even as the agency handed over the captain, crew and some volunteer staff of the agency to support the activities on waterways.
Jamoh stated that the agency’s donations were to landlords where it operates, which include Lagos, Port Harcourt, Warri and Calabar, adding that all the six geo-political zone will also benefit from it.
Meanwhile, he also appreciated the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for their efforts in responding to infected persons and sensitization of the public. He stressed that Nigerians should play their roles by abiding to the stipulated safety measures and adhering to the stay at home directive.
Receiving the items on behalf of Lagos State, the Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Rabiu Olowo said the State government was overwhelmed by the goodwill and support from NIMASA.
“This is most welcomed and on behalf of the governor and the good people of Lagos State, I say thank you. As you are all aware Lagos State is the epic center of this pandemic in Nigeria. Everyone is fighting this pandemic across the globe.”
“We have seen the response of the State to this and the true leadership of Mr. Governor to fighting this. This donation will go a long way in supporting and complementing the state effort towards fighting this Pandemic,” he said.
