Coronavirus Lockdown: Supply of essential products a success

The supply of essential commodities nationwide, in spite of the restriction of movement, has been a tremendous success, the Minister of Industry Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, has said.

Mr Adebayo disclosed this Thursday in Abuja after receiving briefs from the Manager, Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), Battah Ndirpaya.

He had earlier this week announced the establishment of the EOC which he said would be housed in his ministry.

The centre is to monitor the real-time status of the transportation and delivery of essential goods to cut down on the difficulties being faced by manufacturers, transporters, and distributors of the commodities across Nigeria.

The minister was represented at the event by the Permanent Secretary, Nasir Sani- Gwarzo.

According to a statement signed by the ministry’s Deputy Director, Press, Ibrahim Haruna, the minister said the Committee on Sustainable Production and Delivery of Essential Commodities during the lockdown through EOC received a total of 32 complaints on challenges being faced on the effective supply/delivery of essential commodities across the country.

He said the 32 cases have also been resolved.

He said that out of the 32 cases, 27 per cent involved the delivery of food items, 40 per cent were on essential items while 33 per cent were on logistics and manufacturing items.

A breakdown of the cases by geo-political zones reveals that 27 per cent are from the North-Central, 24 per cent from the South-East, 31 per cent from the South-West while 17 per cent are from the South-South region.

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“The summary of cases received and resolved by geo-political Zones are as follows: North-West, 13.7 per cent of the cases pertained to the delivery of essential items, while 10.3 per cent were Manufacturing cases; 10.3 per cent involved Manufacturing cases in the South East; 6.8 per cent involved the delivery of food items in the South West, 10.3 per cent involved the delivery of essential items while another 10.3 per cent were Manufacturing cases; 6.8 per cent involved the delivery of food items in South-South while 10.3 per cent pertained to the delivery of essential items and 3.4 per cent of the cases in that Zone were manufacturing cases”

He also said the summary of cases received and resolved by category is 6.8 per cent in the North-Central which were logistics associated, 3.4 per cent were manufacturing-related, 3.4 per cent cases were in retail while 13.7 per cent were market intelligence cases. He added that 13.7 per cent of the cases recorded in the South-East were logistics-related while 10.3 per cent were in manufacturing. About 24.1 per cent cases in the South-West were logistics while 6.8 per cent were manufacturing-related; 10.3 per cent of cases recorded from the South-South were logistics, 3.4 per cent were in manufacturing while another 3.4 per cent were market intelligence cases.

The minister commended the security agencies for their support.

He also appealed to state governors to direct their Ministry of Trade and Industry or any relevant agencies to collaborate with the security agencies or Special Task Force on COVID-19 to facilitate easy movement and distribution of food products and other essential commodities as approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.