COVID-19: BARAU CALLS FOR FG ASSISTANCE TO KANO

The senator representing Kano North, Sen. Barau Jibrin has called for federal government assistance to Kano state in the fight to curb the menace of the pandemic, Covid-19 sweeping through the state.

In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday, Sen. Barau said with the noticeable spike of the virus in Kano State, there was need for federal government to assist the state government with funds, equipment and additional testing facilities to meet the challenges of the most populous state in the country in combating the threat.

While welcoming the announced monitoring of the state by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, he said federal government assistance would not only be of help to Kano but also to the states of Northern Nigeria and invariably the country because of the strategic role the state plays in the life of the nation.

The senator who is the Senate Committee Chairman on Appropriations cited federal government involvement and assistance to Lagos state by throwing its weight and resources behind the state because of its strategic location and importance to the country. He said with the alarming rate of the spread of Covid-19, there was need to help Kano state.

Sen. Barau pleaded that the federal government should not wait until the virus spreads beyond the capability of the state before coming in, but rather advised that as it did in Lagos from the beginning, it should extend the same measure of assistance to Kano state.

While commending Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje for his administration’s proactive steps taken to combat the pandemic as attested to by the Director-General of the Centre for Disease Control [NCDC], Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, the senator called for federal interventions through provision of financial support, equipments and testing kits.

“The Covid-19 pandemic is such that no state government can effectively deal with it alone without the assistance of federal government no matter how rich and developed such sub-national could be.” said the lawmaker, adding that “President Muhammadu Buhari should please help to urgently assist Kano State at this point in time”
He lamented that if not because of the current Lockdown, he would have raised a motion to the effect on the floor of the upper chamber of the national assembly.
According to statistics available, Kano is presently the third highest state with Covid-19 cases in the country after Lagos and Abuja.

From Kunmi Olayiwola