… to build world-class medical facilities in nation’s eight zones.
In continuation of its intervention across the states of the federation, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)-led Oil and Gas Industry coalition, has presented medical consumables, equipment and an ambulance worth millions of naira to the Kano State Government.
The coalition had in past weeks extended its intervention to all states of the federation with Abuja, Rivers and the Southwest states benefitting from the initiative.
Presenting the items Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje at the weekend in Kano, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, said the items were part of the 58 million dollars (N21billion) intervention by the oil and gas industry, expressing the hope that they would go a long way to containing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.
Items presented on behalf of the NNPC and its partners — Chevron Nigeria Limited (Upstream) and Bovas & Company Limited (Downstream) — 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 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.
According to Sylva, 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,” he said in a statement by NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru, emailed to Persecondnews.
Also speaking at the occasion, NNPC Group Managing Director, Mallam Mele Kyari, disclosed that the oil and 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,’’ he said.
As socially responsible corporate citizens, Kyari said the oil and gas industry operators were focused on bequeathing some of the finest medical infrastructure that would outlive the COVID-19 pandemic era.
Receiving the items, Gov. Ganduje, lauded the initiative aimed at combating COVID-19 and expressed the hope that the intervention would go a long way in fighting the pandemic as well as complement the state government’s efforts.
He said the state had three functional isolation centers and that it had 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 its membership drawn from International Oil Companies (IOCs), Indigenous Petroleum Producers, Major Oil Marketers, Crude Oil and Products Traders, Depot Owners and Petroleum Products Marketers.
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