Yemisi Izuora
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi Tuesday donated 3 locally made motorized modular fumigators to Lagos State Government as his contribution in the fight against the novel coronavirus global pandemic.
The monarch also handed over a large size drone sprinkler to the state Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu. The drone sprinkler-fumigator is meant for the aerial fumigation purposes.
The Ooni described the activities of Governor Sanwo-Olu and other world leaders as commendable as they continue the battle against the global pandemic. He said this encouraged him and the palace to throw their hat into the ring by coming up with the disinfecting machines to help protect the environment.
The monarch said the fumigators, which were locally fabricated are environmentally-friendly. He stated that the equipment converts the liquid sanitizer to fog, travels faster and stays longer to fight Corona and any other virus in the community.
The Ooni said Lagos as epicenter of the pandemic in Nigeria deserves all the support, commending Governor Sanwo-Olu for giving regular updates to Lagosians on the steps being taken by his government to contain the virus.
Oba Ogunwusi however charged other Nigerians to join hands with the government in the fight against COVID-19. He urged the people to look beyond palliatives by coming up with more local solutions to save lives during and after the COVID-19.
He said: “our people should look inward for solutions that are social and local as the present situation calls for home-grown interventions to support our doctors and other frontline warriors.”
Sanwo-Olu expressed appreciation to the royal father, describing him as an enabler and a notable part of governance in Nigeria.
He added that Oba Ogunwusi has equally helped government in educating the rural people not only on the presence of the pandemic as a reality and not a myth but also by encouraging them to provide local answer to the scourge.
He said: “Thank you your majesty for showing our people the can do spirit, thank you for using your office and institution as a strong enabler to be able to communicate and pass on this strong message to our citizens. You are a critical part of governance because you are one of our traditional institutions.
“I want to commend you, for using your office as an institution to let our people know that what we are going through is real, it is not something that anybody has conjured, but it is something we can come together and solve collectively.
“It is good that you are leading this conversation today. You are the first that would able to tell our people that COVID19 is real, you have shown we can also look inward and take up a local solution, and you have taken it upon yourself to not just sit back and criticize, but to give back and encourage our local industry and economy, to be very creative and see what kind of local solutions you can bring about.”