PARIS OLYMPIC GAMES
The Nigerian Governors Forum says it will give fillip to risk communication pillars of the various state COVID-19 teams as suggested by the COVID-19 Presidential Task Force to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
As part of the strategies, the governors are to appoint a state committee with the Commissioner for Information as Chairman and a senior traditional leader as co-chair with the state Health promotion officer as Secretary as well as collaborate with the National Orientation Agency, state orientation agencies, religious and traditional institutions, as well as civil societies.
This is contained in a communique signed by the NGF Chairman and Ekiti Governor Kayode Fayemi at the end of their 3th teleconference on Wednesday.
The resolution followed an update from Dr. Sani Aliyu, PTF National Coordinator, who stressed the need for governors to strengthen the risk communication pillar of the COVID-19 pandemic response.
Persecondnews recalls that Fayemi is the latest of the governors to test positive for the virus, raising the number of governors infected to eight. They are Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), David Umahi (Ebonyi), Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta), Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), and Seyi Makinde (Oyo).
They have all recovered from the virus.
Aliyu urged the governors to raise the profile of the pillar by appointing their Commissioner for Information as Chairman and a senior traditional leader as co-chair with the state Health promotion officer as Secretary. According to him, the membership should be broad-based including relevant MDAs such as NOA, development partners and the private sector while a similar structure should also be created in each of the council areas.
“Governors should hold a high level meeting of traditional and religious leaders with the expanded risk communication team to strategize on achieving the level of community engagement essential for influencing positive behaviour and the uptake of health and safety measures by the public during the period of the pandemic.’’
The governors also agreed to step up the current efforts by taking key health and safety measures to the doorsteps of Nigerians in all the 774 local government areas.
On the COVID-19 budgets, it was agreed that state governments through their ministries of finance should utilize technical assistance available at the NGF Secretariat to publish their approved amended 2020 COVID-19 responsive budgets latest by July 31.
They are to maintain the implementation of a tax compliance relief programme for individual tax payers and business to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis; issue emergency procurement guidelines; and adopt procedures to facilitate the participation of small and medium scale enterprises in state procurement by 30th September 2020.
“In the light of the proposed partnership with the CBN on the ABP, an official MoU signing will be held on Tuesday, 28th June 2020. The initiative will be followed by the establishment of a joint project team, engagement with stakeholders and launch during the 2020 dry season farming.”
Highlight of the meeting was the briefing by governors and technical partners on the economic impact of coronavirus and possible response to the pandemic and additional health funding available to state governments from the federal government estimated at N2.1 billion per state.
Hot Spot Strategy which prioritizes COVID-19 interventions in local government areas with elevated incidences was also discussed.
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