The National Primary Health-care Development Agency, NPHCDA, on Thursday informed the National Economic Council, NEC, that the COVID-19 Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccines have been delivered to 35 states in the country.
The NEC in that vein urged Nigerians to participate in the vaccination process when it gets to their turn.
The NEC also welcomed the integration of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to support the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on vaccine accountability and transparency.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who chaired the meeting, commended the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) for the smooth coordination of the nation-wide distribution of the vaccines.
State Governors, FCT Minister, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, other ministers, and heads of government agencies and parastatals, participated in the virtual meeting.
Making a presentation to the Council, the NPHCDA Executive Director, Dr Fiasal Shuaib, revealed that all States except Kogi have received their vaccines.
He noted that Kogi State was yet to receive due to the non-repair of their Cold-Chain Store coupled with the State’s concerns around the contradictory information about the vaccines.
“The vaccination application has been launched in most States’ Treatment Centres even against distractions and criticism of the FG’s efforts to ensure availability of vaccines in the nation. The roll-out of the vaccines across Healthcare Front-line Workers and other Health Support Staff was scheduled to commence by March 15, 2021, in some States, with the intention of wider coverage after the training of the States’ Health workers across board.”
To ensure accountability in the distribution of the vaccines, Dr Faisal informed NEC that “the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) had been co-opted to support the PTF on vaccine accountability to ensure the safekeeping of the vaccines.”
He added that “there was a need for tight security around the Vaccines in the States to avoid being vandalized by hoodlums.”
He also assured that the second tranche of the Vaccines would be received in the country before the second dose of the Vaccines intake is concluded.
The Council also received an update from the National Economic Council (NEC) ad hoc committee interfacing with the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 to ease the lockdown of the economy by the Chairman of the Committee the Governor Delta State Dr Ifeanyi Okowa and the Director-General of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu.
Broadband access
On the implementation of a broadband access in the country, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Mr Ali Isa Pantami sought the support of NEC in the formulation and implementation of policies that will ease broadband penetration in Nigeria.
He said: “All States should support us by adhering to the N145 Right Of Way (ROW) charge per linear meter. The long-term benefits are far more than the initial fees being collected.
“We need a Point of Contact in each State as the interface on broadband and digital economy issues, and each State is also encouraged to have an institution or department to handle requests regarding broadband and the digital economy”
Highlighting some of the benefits derivable in increasing broadband access in the country, the minister noted that “the World Economic Forum predicts that over 60% of global GDP will be digitized by 2022 and that within the next decade, digital platforms will be used to create close to 70% of new value.”
Further highlighting the achievements in the ICT sector, the Minister disclosed that the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector recorded the highest growth rate of all the sectors of the Nigerian economy in both the fourth quarter of 2020 (Q4 2020) and the entire year 2020.
He said that this was based on the Q4 2020 Report on Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Emmanuel Ukoh
