From Olukayode Idowu
The North East Development Commission (NEDC) will be embarking on implementation of 1,310 Rapid Response Intervention in projects in all the 112 local governments of the North East Region of Nigeria, the Managing Director of the Commission, Dr. Mohammed Alkali has revealed.
Speaking on Monday during during the inauguration of the Molecular Centre in Bauchi, a project the Commission assisted the Bauchi State Government to put up at the Bauchi State Specialist Hospital, Alkali said this is one of the many projects to be built in the North East region by NEDC.
He said: “Going forward, the Commission will continue to synergies with the State Governments and other stakeholders in the North East region in implementing its robust programmes and projects for peace and stability, resilience, recovery, and holistic development in POST-COVID era.”
In addition to the laboratory, we shall soon return to Commission the Information and Communication (ICT) centre we have built and equipped for the purpose of training and empowering youths of the state in ICT skills.
“The main aim of establishing ICT centres in all the states is to create an inclusive, knowledge-driven economy in the North East region.”
He promises that “the NEDC will soon embark on implementation of its 1310 Rapid Response Intervention in projects in education, health, agriculture and WASH sectors across all the 112 LGAs of the North East. This is in addition to the forthcoming launch of our Integrated Agriculture Programme involving the provision of agricultural machinery and equipment, seeds, fertilizers, agrochemicals and extension service logistics vehicles to enhance the production capacity of smallholder farmers in North East and enable them regain their lost livelihoods.”
Also speaking at the occasion, the Borno State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed said the state has been spending N15 million weekly on the fight against COVID-19, Senator Bala Mohammed, the State Governor has said.
Mohammed said the money spent on COVID-19 goes into healthcare workers’ allowance, contact tracing, surveillance, case management, risk communication, logistics and supply, infection prevention and coordination.
He said the laboratory was set up under a partnership with the state government, North East Development Commission (NEDC) and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
He disclosed that: “The state provided funding for the construction of the building, procurement of furniture, power supply and staff, while NEDC procured and installed PCL and other machines in addition to two ambulances, personal protective equipment (PPE), consumables and other support implement.”
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Aliyu Maigoro had earlier revealed that since March this year, the state had tested 3,459 samples with 500 turning positive and 439 fully recovered and discharged, while 49 cases were undergoing treatment.
He said: “The state recorded a total of 12 deaths (mostly among patients with comorbidity) with a Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of 2.4 per cent currently and with increasing community transmission, we are going into community mass testing and contact.”