Yemisi Izuora
Executive Director, Sahara Group, Temitope Shonubi, said post COVID-19, the medical equipment provided by the energy conglomerate to isolation centres will be donated to public health institutions to boost healthcare delivery in Nigeria.
Speaking, during the commissioning of the THISDAY Dome COVID-19 Isolation and Treatment Centre in Abuja, Nigeria, Shonubi said the pandemic had elicited a commendable level of collaboration between the private and public sector aimed at developing and transforming the nation’s health sector.
He said: “We are not just promoting our business at Sahara Group. We are promoting humanity. All the equipment Sahara Group has provided to the isolation centre through the Sahara Foundation will be donated to the Federal Ministry of Health when the pandemic is over. We believe this will shore up availability of these equipment in some of our tertiary medical institutions. This for us is in line with the sustainability principle that guides all our interventions at our locations across the globe.”
Shonubi stated that Sahara would work with the health ministry to determine how its additional equipment can be sent to other centers that are being developed to ensure the virus is effectively contained in Nigeria.
“It is great to see how collaboration between the private and public sector is advancing our response to the pandemic robustly. All stakeholders have worked tirelessly and collectively to make the process of bringing in medical equipment and establishing more centres seamless. Sahara Group is delighted and honoured to be part of such positive partnerships that can only enhance the well-being of all Nigerians.” he added.
On how Africa should respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, Shonubi said the continent needs to develop “homegrown” capacity to facilitate the adoption of sustainable policies and processes for handling natural and other emergencies.
“Africa by Africans is a favourite phrase of mine. A lot people will say Africa for Africans, no. Africa is for everybody but what we must do is to make sure we participate in our destiny, we must make sure that we enforce what is best for Africa. In the past we usually depend on the outside world for several forms of intervention. If we do not have the capacity locally at times like this, it becomes a daunting challenge for all Africans. It is this reality that has made the private sector join forces to boost our capacity. We hope to see much more demonstration of Africa by Africa across the continent,” he stated.