Citizen NewsNG 
Nigeria’s First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari has donated medical items to support the fight against the spread of the deadly Coronavirus disease known as COVID-19.
Mrs Buhari has shown deep concern over the spread of the dreaded COVID-19 across Nigeria and has activated her Get Involved Initiative in order to gather donations to support the fight.
She expressed appreciation to those who donated to the course, saying “the nation will benefit from their donations.’’
A call to stay safe
Mrs Buhari therefore called on Nigerians to stay safe and practice social distancing in order to defeat the pandemic.
She also urged “the benefitting states to ensure that the items donated were used judiciously.’’
Mrs Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Administration and Women Affairs, Dr Hajo Sani represented her during the distribution ceremony in Abuja.
The items distributed include; cartons of assorted hand sanitisers, pharmaceutical drugs, personal protection equipment including disposable gowns and overalls.
Other items include disposable and surgical masks, gloves, protective goggles, regular and ICU beds with beddings, and automatic dispensers.
The items were distributed to three states of Bauchi, Gombe and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Appreciation
Receiving the items on behalf of FCT, the Director, Special Duties, FCT Health and Human Services Secretariat, Dr Mathew Ashikeni, expressed gratitude to the first lady for the gesture.
Dr Ashikeni said; “the donation would go a long way in supporting the fight against COVID-19 pandemic in the nation’s capital.’’
He assured the delegation that the items would be used judiciously.
He however appealed to wealthy individuals in Nigeria to redouble their efforts and support the Nigerian government efforts towards ending the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Get Involved Initiative is one of the many platforms initiated by the First Lady to generate donations from individuals and corporate organisations, to address pervasive health challenges among women and children.
The initiative was last activated to address the issue of nutrition among the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria.
By Mercy Chukwudiebere
