Yemisi Izuora
Despite the supply chain constraints involved in simultaneous nationwide delivery and distribution of medical items at this period, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC led Oil and Gas Industry coalition is determined to extend the Industry intervention to all states of the federation, with Abuja, Rivers and states in the South West having benefitted from the initiative.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, weekend in Kano, disclosed this while presenting medical consumables, equipment and an ambulance to the Kano State Government, a release today in Abuja by NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru, has stated.
The statement said the items were handed over to the Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, on behalf of the NNPC and its partners – Chevron Nigeria Limited (Upstream) and Bovas & Company Limited (Downstream).
Other items donated to the state included a Toyota ambulance, two full kits ventilators, one smith RescuePac ventilator for emergency and transport, ten pulse oximeters, 10,000 nose masks and 5,000 Nitrile examination gloves.
Others are 250 face masks, surgical splash/fluid resistance face shield, 250 N95 respiratory valve, 100 PPE overall full kits, 100 PPE shoe covers, 2,000 PPE disposable caps and 500 Medimec surgical face masks.
The minister said that items were part of the USD58million (N21bn) intervention initiative by the Oil & Gas Industry, expressing the hope that they would go a long way to stemming the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.
Sylva explained that the initiative covers three areas: provision of medical consumables, deployment of logistics and in-patient support system and delivery of medical infrastructure, disclosing that donations were outside the regular Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative routinely deployed by NNPC and the participating companies.
He said all commitments under the scheme were collected in kind through a clear, well-established and transparent governance framework.
“I commend NNPC, the donor companies and other participants in this initiative for standing up to be counted at these trying times,” Chief Sylva stated.
Also speaking at the occasion, NNPC Group Managing Director, Mallam Mele Kyari, hinted that the Oil & Gas Industry was planning to build permanent and sustainable medical infrastructure in each of the nation’s geo-political zones.
“We have a plan to deliver permanent medical infrastructure to every state of the Federation and a specific intervention in the six geo-political zones. We are selecting 14 locations to construct the permanent infrastructure.
Kyari added that as a socially responsible corporate citizens, the Oil and Gas Industry operators were focused on bequeathing some of the finest medical infrastructure that would outlive the COVID-19 pandemic.
On his part, Governor Ganduje, who lauded the Oil and Gas Initiative to combat COVID-19, said the intervention would go a long way in fighting the pandemic as well as complement the state government’s efforts.
The Governor stated that the state had three functional isolation centers and that it has commenced distribution of palliatives to 50,000 households in the state.
Led by the NNPC, the Oil and Gas Intervention against the COVID-19 pandemic has membership drawn from International Oil Companies (IOCs), Indigenous Petroleum Producers, Major Oil Marketers, Crude Oil and Products Traders, Depot Owners and Petroleum Products Marketers.