Kwara advocates private sector support to tackle COVID

Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, governor of Kwara, says the state government cannot solve all healthcare challenges associated with the coronavirus pandemic, without support from the private sector.

Abdulrazaq spoke on Monday, in Ilorin, the Kwara capital, while receiving orthopaedic beds from the Saliu Mustapha Foundation (SMF), an Ilorin-based non-governmental organisation.

The donation comprised 200 orthopaedic beds and their accessories.

Represented by Raji Rasaq, commissioner for health, the governor noted that the donation is in line with his vision of bridging the gap in the health sector.

He explained that there is no nation in the world that can sufficiently provide healthcare delivery, without the collaboration of its citizenry.

He also urged well-meaning individuals and philanthropists to support government efforts aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus, as the country battles a third wave of infections.

The governor commended Saliu Mustapha, founder of the NGO, for his contribution, saying he has been consistent with his philanthropic gestures over the years.

On his part, Agboola Gambari, the foundation’s deputy director, said the NGO is committed to humanitarian causes and had been at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19.

He added that the foundation was conceived as a special purpose vehicle through which Mustapha, its chairman, intended to play his part in the development of his state.

“As a humanitarian organisation, the Saliu Mustapha Foundation is saddened by reports of more severe cases as Nigeria faces a third wave of the pandemic,” he said.

“Many are lying helpless in isolation centres and their lives are dependent on the oxygen cylinders by their beds.

“The effect of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic bites harder with the standoffs between the striking doctors and the government.

“We have doled out palliatives to vulnerable groups and individuals in our own limited capacity. We believe this will go a long way in rekindling the hope of COVID-19 patients and strengthening the capacities at the isolation centres in the state.

“This is also our little way of encouraging the government and particularly the health workers who have been at the frontline since the day Nigeria recorded her index case. You are our heroes.”

The federal government had, on August 2, declared that Nigeria was experiencing a third wave of COVID-19 infections.

So far, the country has recorded 187,023 cases of COVID-19 with 2,268 deaths.