The Nigerian Government has banned all its officials from overseas trips due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
The Presidential Taskforce set up to handle Nigeria’s response to the pandemic which has killed at least several thousands of people in other parts of the world, made the announcement at the end of its inaugural meeting on Tuesday.
A former Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, NACA, Sani Aliyu, is the Coordinator, with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha as Chairman.
Nigeria currently has had three confirmed cases of Coronavirus, one of whom later tested negative for the deadly virus.
With a 6-point terms of reference, and a mandate to deliver in six months, the Presidential Task Force headed by Secretary to Government of the Federation sure has its job cut out to keep the Coronavirus situation in Nigeria under control.
President Muhammad Buhari had last Monday announced a 12-member committee. However, at Tuesday’s inauguration, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema and the Minister of State for Health, Leke Mamora were announced as additional members.
Nigeria’s containment of the Coronavirus has received commendation from the World Health Organisation, WHO.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC has had a N1.6 billion emergency funding approved for it to tackle the Coronavirus in the country.
The World Bank has a $12 billion grant available for countries tackling the disease, so the Presidential Task Force can sure, make moves to attract international funding in addition to the domestic sources of funding the fight against Coronavirus.