The Coalition Against COVID-19(CACOVID), a private sector alliance formed for the sole purpose of eradicating coronavirus from Nigeria, has announced updates of its fully owned activities as well as intentions to support the government’s efforts in rebuilding the nation’s economy.
This follows the mayhem caused by hoodlums who hijacked the EndSARS protests, resulting in vandalism, loss of lives and disruption of the existing state of affairs.
Whilst giving a breakdown of CACOVID’s expenditures, Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor, noted that the coalition has received a total of N39.64 billion as a donation from its private sector members and expended N43.272 billion on various projects, including N4.194 billion on building fully equipped isolation centres, N9.017 billion on medical equipment and supplies, N28.7 billion on food palliatives as well as embarked on COVID-19 awareness drives across states in Nigeria, leveraging multiple communication channels.
Emefiele also disclosed that CACOVID has put in place certain measures as a supportive gesture to the government in facilitating the recovery process of the economy which has been adversely affected by the pandemic and the recent national unrest.
Commenting on this, Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor, said: “These efforts represent some of the essential steps that are important in rebuilding trust and preventing future unrest within our communities. It would also complement the government’s efforts aimed at creating jobs for our youths and in strengthening the security apparatus in the country. More importantly, it would also prevent the challenges which have emanated from the protest, from affecting the long-term growth prospects for households and businesses in the country.”
The coalition has budgeted N100 billion to procure equipment and gadgets for the Nigerian Police Force over the next 2 years, in addition to the rehabilitation of all damaged 44 police stations nationwide. The sum of over N150 billion will be deployed to set up and implement the Youth Development Programme to provide technical and vocational education to over 4 million Nigerian youths over the next 5 years. On successful conclusion of the program, selected students will be eligible to receive loans to support their entrepreneurial pursuits. A total of N25 billion has been earmarked for this.
