The presidency on Thursday outlined its plans to move the country forward after it exits the present COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting actions in the areas of the economy, healthcare, jobs creation, among others.
A statement issued by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity) in Abuja noted the global anxiety on what the future holds for humanity post-COVID-19, particularly in respect of the economy, healthcare, job security, and general wellbeing.
It observed that naturally, Nigerians “are not immune from the disquietude, as they belong to the global community.”
ALSO READ: We have quarantined 2,000 Almajirai at 3 isolation centres in Kano, says Governor
The statement gave a checklist of some measures that it said President Muhammadu Buhari has taken, and will further take, to make life abundant for Nigerians, saying: “This should assuage some apprehensions.”
It noted that an economic team, headed by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning has been set up to examine the impact of Covid-19 on the economy;
Economic Sustainability Committee headed by the Vice President is also in place to define a post-COVID-19 economy for Nigeria and that a task force has been set up on the free movement of farm produce headed by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The statement added that plans are afoot to tackle weak health systems and infrastructure through the establishment of standard laboratories, intensive care units, and isolation centres in all states of the federation.
It further stated that the health infrastructure will eventually be recalibrated for the good of the people, and in readiness for future emergencies.
The statement added: “As long term measure, emphasis will be placed on integrating local content in proven researches in the cure, and production of materials in the health sector.
“A Fiscal Sustainability Plan to complement the suite of monetary and banking interventions recently announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria.”
Added to these, it said are “a mass agricultural programme to be put in place, major rural road construction programme, mass housing programme, large scale installation of residential solar systems, utilizing mainly local materials and expansion of the Social Investment Programme.”
Others are the revision of the 2020-2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and the Budget 2020 assumptions and targets, the prioritization of time-sensitive expenditures over less critical spending while extant financial controls are to be strengthened to detect, eliminate and sanction instances of waste, funds misappropriation and corruption.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Buy and read digital replicas of your TRIBUNE titles by subscribing through E-VENDING
COVID-19: 950 More Nigerian Children Under Five Could Die Daily Without Urgent Action ― UNICEF
It has been observed that unless urgent actions are taken, an additional 950 Nigerian children, mostly under-five years, could die daily from preventable causes over the next six months as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts routine services and threatens to weaken the health system… Read full story
WHO Warns Coronavirus May Never Go Away As Toll Nears 300,000
The coronavirus may never go away and populations will have to learn to live with it just as they have HIV, the World Health Organization has warned, as the global death toll from the disease nears 300,000. There were also gloomy forecasts from the US Federal Reserve, which said prolonged shutdowns to stem… Read full story
COVID-19: When Eye Glasses Become Important
SCIENTISTS are still deep in the research process of uncovering all the ways in which COVID-19 can be transmitted. Now, in a new study, researchers at the University of Hong Kong have found eyes are ‘important route’ for coronavirus. The findings are challenging the widely held assumption in the earliest stages of the… Read full story
Why We Rejected Zoom Meeting With FG —ASUU President
The president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, has explained why the union refused to hold meeting via Zoom platform with the Federal Government’s representatives, saying such meeting would not yield any tangible result as it would be difficult to control… Read full story
How 13 Members Of Crime Group, Shila Boys, Landed In Adamawa Police Net
Thirteen members of a crime group in Adamawa State known as Shila Boys were on Wednesday, May 13, paraded after they were arrested for attacking residents of the state. The newly-established Task Force to fight against crime in the state arrested the 13 members and recovered weapons as well as tricycles… Read full story
Why FG Should Stop Working Against Domestic Airlines
If there is anything that is standing for the governments in places like America, Europe, Asia and Middle East and other developed nations of the world, that thing is patriotism and the over protectionism policy of the governments of these nations when it comes to their own things… Read full story
Six Opposition Party Members Arrested For Distributing Face Masks In Cameroon Market
Six members of Cameroon’s opposition party, the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC), have been arrested for distributing face masks and hand sanitisers in the capital, Yaoundé. The six men were picked up at the Mokolo market, one of the largest in the country… Read full story
Pandemics In History: Was Nigeria Prepared For Covid-19? (2)
LAST week, some patients who had been isolated from the rest of society on account of coronavirus infection in Gombe State reportedly vacated the Federal Teaching Hospital in Gombe, the state capital, to protest the poor state of facilities and treatment. Earlier, patients in the Kwadom Infectious Disease Hospital in the… Read full story
COVID-19 Isn’t Just A Respiratory Disease, It Affects The Whole Body
The patient had been relatively fine for the first 10 days he was down with COVID-19. Just 38, he didn’t fit the description of people at high risk of complications from the new coronavirus. “He had mild pulmonary symptoms that he was just sitting at home with,” said Dr Sean Wengerter, a vascular surgeon in Pomona… Read full story
and then