President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday said the support his government had received from the private sector in addressing social ills was enough to make him the “envy of many presidents of the world.”
He spoke in Abuja at the commissioning and handover of security equipment valued at over 12 billion to the military and Nigeria Police Force.
The items were donated by the Coalition of Private Sector Against COVID-19 (CACOVID), a group of eminent Nigerian industrialists, including Aliko Dangote and Herbert Wigwe, who had also pooled N40bn to combat COVID-19 in the country.
“Today is indeed a very happy day for all Nigerians, and I can happily say that I’m the envy of many presidents in the world.
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“I’m exceedingly honoured to be the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, at this time.
“I’m gratified to have the honour of leading a country whose private sector willingly galvanises itself to raise funds to enthusiastically support the government in resolving social ills.
“I’m proud to say that there is nowhere in the entire world, except in Nigeria, where the private sector has voluntarily come together to assist government efforts.
“These 350 vehicles and thousands of vests and helmets you are handing over today will go a long way in boosting the capacity of our forces,” he said.
He said the CACOVID was set up following a quick-thinking recognition of the impending crisis that could erupt due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
He said following the national unrest in 2020 and the continuing security challenges in the country, the coalition again galvanised support among private sector organisations to support the Federal Government in surmounting the security challenges.
He said the coalition raised N12bn used to procure critical security equipment for our domestic law enforcement and defence organisations.
In his remarks, Alhaji Dangote listed Folorunsho Alakija, Tony Elumelu, Segun Agbaje, Abdulsamad Rabiu, Femi Otedola, Adesola Adeduntan, Karl Toriola, Haresh Aswani, Raji Gupta and John Coumantaros as the moving forces behind CACOVID, who contributed several billions of naira each and supported the CACOVID effort with advocacy and their teams.
“For the last two years, the leadership team met on a weekly basis, mobilised others in the private sector, and were able to raise N82bn to provide 39 fully kitted isolation centres, testing supplies for almost 1 million tests and food for 10 million vulnerable individuals across the country.”
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