OSIWA Donates Ambulance To Aid Yobe’s COVID-19 Response

The Yobe State government has received a gift of a fully equipped ambulance to aid the state’s COVID-19 response strategy.

The ambulance, which is expected to aid the pickup and protection of patients who have tested positive to the virus, was donated to the state by the Open Society Initiative of West Africa (OSIWA).

At the presentation ceremony in Abuja, OSIWA Country Director, Udo Jude Ilo, who was represented by Catherine Angai, said the organisation know the burden the pandemic brought on states hence the need for assistance from donors and non-governmental organizations.

“For us, we have been emphasizing on inclusiveness in response to COVID -19 which has taken everybody by surprise and we realize that nobody can do it alone, the government cannot do it alone, citizens cannot do it alone, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) cannot do it alone. We need each other at this very critical time,” she explained.

“We developed partnership(s) with CSOs, we developed partnership(s) with government institutions and we also developed partnership with (the) government itself. So, for us, it is significant, in terms of how we are reaching out, in terms of how we are showing that we are all in this together, in terms of solidarity and in terms of togetherness as it stands.

“So, we will continue this support and like I said, we can’t do it alone, we need each other.”

Mrs Angai said the initiative will also donate an ambulance to Plateau State in the coming days as well other essential commodities in the fight against COVID-19 to other states.

She urged other donor organizations, funding, and development partners to assist state responses to the contagion.

In his response, the governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, who was represented by the deputy governor, Idi Gubana, while receiving the keys to the ambulance, thanked OSIWA for the kind gesture, noting that the gift will greatly assist the state in collecting of samples through the 17 local government areas across the state.

He said the ambulance came at the right time when Nigeria’s infectious disease outfit, NCDC, is urging for more testing capacity in the country.

He said an additional ambulance will make the movement of samples faster.

“We assure you that we use this ambulance judiciously in the prevention and control of COVID -19 in Yobe state” he noted.

Yobe, one of the Boko-haram ravaged Northern states is among the states in the country that is yet to see an uptick in the number of coronavirus infections.

Of the 44, 433 cases recorded so far in Nigeria, only 67 came from Yobe in which 54 have recovered and discharged after treatment.

Eight people have succumbed to the contagion in the state with only five patients remaining in isolation centres receiving treatment.