Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari has bagged a new appointment to Champion COVID-19 Response in the African sub. Region.
Lauretta Onochie, an aide to President Buhari on social media, disclosed this in a post on her Twitter handle.
Onochie who made the announcement and posted some photos said President of West African countries under the aegis of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of state and Government appointed President Buhari.
President Buhari Bags New Appointment
The tweet reads, “CHAMPION OF COVID -19 RESPONSE Presidents of West African countries under the aegis of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government have appointed Pres Buhari Champion of the #COVID19 response.
Also, Bashir Ahmad, the Personal Assistant on New Media to President Buhari said the President was appointed at an extraordinary summit held via video conference.
His tweet reads, “Champion of the COVID—19 Response, ECOWAS leaders have appointed president @MBuhari at an extraordinary summit held via video conference as the Champion who will coordinate the COVID-19 response in the sub-region.
The meeting was presided over by the President of the Republic of Niger and Chair of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, Mahamadou Issoufou.
President Buhari, during the teleconference, called on fellow ECOWAS leaders to look beyond the challenges posed by the COVID -19 pandemic and tap into various opportunities it has presented for the betterment of lives in member states.
“In every challenging situation such as the current one, there are also opportunities
Our region must seek to find those opportunities provided by this gloomy global outlook for its benefit by embarking on the implementation of such critical policies, which before now, will be challenging to accept.”
He called on his colleagues to intensify collaboration to save the region from the pandemic by sharing their experiences and best practices.
President Buhari, therefore, outlined some measures taken by his government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
These include the reduction of interest rates on all applicable Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) interventions from nine to five per cent and the introduction of a one- year moratorium on CBN intervention facilities.
He also mentioned the inauguration of the Presidential Task Force to coordinate national efforts to combat the spread of the virus and ensure efficiency and effectiveness in line with the Nigerian Action Plan on Health Security.
According to the President, other measures are the provision of relief materials, including medical and food supplies, as well as conditional cash transfers of N20,000 each for poor and vulnerable households; and the establishment of more isolation centres and testing facilities to contain the spread of the disease.
