Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, a former Governor of Sokoto State has advocated for an intensified enlightenment campaigns, especially in rural communities, ahead of the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines in the country.
The former governor stated this at a news conference on Wednesday in Abuja, while speaking on the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic and other national issues.
Bafarawa said that government should put more measures in place to curtail the possible spread of the virus with the seriousness and commitment it deserved.
He stressed that intensified campaigns and sensitisation were critical as most Nigerians do not believe that the virus existed.
“Another area of great concern which the government has to ensure it deals with is the issue of sensitisation and intensified campaigns.
“So that in the event that the said vaccines are acquired with large sums of money, they are not wasted.
“For example, from traditional point of view and judging from the nature of Nigerians, especially some of our largely illiterate societies, they hardly become receptive to newly introduced medical recipes or drugs,” he said.
The former governor noted that a large segment of Nigerian society do not even believe that COVID-19 existed in the first place.
These, he said, were some of the issues that the Federal Government should pay more attention to, so that the exercise becomes fruitful and successful.
On security challenges facing the country, Bafarawa said there was need for all hands to be on deck, adding that it was the responsibility of all to ensure security.
“Every one of us as members of the society should bear in mind that, while the government does what it is supposed to be doing.
“We should also be seen to contribute our quota towards achieving the desired goals of ridding our society of these acts of barbarism.
“We could use any legitimate means through interaction, in the forms of meetings, workshops, seminars, conferences, and any other means possible to identify areas which most negatively boarder on insecurity issue.
“We should reach out to government or its agencies for the purpose of generating ideas on how best the government could bring to an end these atrocities,” he said.
He added that more ways of achieving the needed results could be created by stakeholders and channeled to appropriate authorities to take immediate measures.
The federal government has announced the release N10 billion to support domestic COVID-19 vaccine production.
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, at a news conference by the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 announced that the first consignment of COVID-19 vaccines would arrive the country in a few week’s time.
The N10 billion for local vaccine production, he explained, was released by the Ministry of Finance and would be used to explore options for licensed production in collaboration with recognised institutions.
On importation of the vaccines, the minister said that Nigeria had requested 10 million doses of the injection, which could be supplied from March.
