The Federal government on Thursday said contrary to reports, Nigeria did not order for the Madagascar herbal solutions for COVID-19.
It said the herbal syrup was an offer by the Madagascan President.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman, Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, said this in Abuja at the 31st joint national briefing of the taskforce.
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He said, “Nigeria did not ask for the Madagascar solution, the Madagascar government decided to airlift quantities meant for African countries.
“That of West Africa was taken to Guinea Bissau so that all the members of ECOWAS have their commodities offloaded in Guinea Bissau and that was the one I referred to that we were making arrangements to evacuate.
“But the impression out there is as if we abandoned home-grown solution and we were looking for Madagascar solution.
“We didn’t ask for it…It was taken in the spirit of African brotherly love to Guinea Bissau and we have asked our ambassador there to establish the location, the quantity and he has done that,” he said.
Researchers tasks FG on home-grown solution
Meanwhile, the Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions has charged the Federal Government to advance home-grown researches in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The institute, in a letter to the SGF, signed by its Secretary General, Theophilus Ndubuaku, stressed the need to synergize between the “political managers” of COVID-19.
It also lamented what it described as a gaping disconnect between the political managers of the pandemic and Nigerian researchers as the nation and indeed the whole world searches for a solution to the global health emergency.
It urged the federal Government as well as the state Governments to recognize the relevance of the Nigerian Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), among others, to the nation’s immediate need for testing, certification of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), treatment and research on coronavirus.
