Reps to FG: Provide N15bn COVID-19 Emergency Fund

The House of Representatives on Tuesday urged the federal government to provide a N15bn Coronavirus Pandemic Emergency Fund to Nigerian universities and other tertiary institutions to enable them to respond to the impact of the virus on academic, research and administrative operations.

This followed a motion by Steve Azaiki, Minority Leader Ndudi Elumelu, Muktar Betara Aliyu and seven others who noted that lack of funding for research towards discovering an effective therapy or vaccine, as well as kits for mass testing, had affected Nigeria’s university and other tertiary institutions.

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The house also urged universities and tertiary institutions to launch a Corona Virus Student Emergency Fund where indigent and vulnerable students could apply for emergency grants to assist them to recover from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It urged the Federal Government to establish an infectious disease research institute in six selected federal universities across the six geo-political zones that would be given specific research funding.

It also asked the government to constitute a team of representatives of the government, academia and relevant stakeholders to undertake a study tour to Madagascar and Senegal to explore the reported progress in the indigenous research into a possible cure of COVID-19 and bring back relevant knowledge and knowhow back to the country.