COVID-19 Nigeria by Mories Atoki & Georgios Radoglou

3) Providing the necessary personal and collective protective equipment (PPE&CPE), such as face shields, sneeze guards,
quality nose masks, quality disinfectants (sanitizers with above 65% alcohol and medical spirit) and many more at real cost
and in sufficient quality to the “exposed professional groups” and sectors identified, as there are Airports, Banks, Public
transport, Court houses, Educational institutions, Authorities, Shopping malls and retail in general
4) Embarking on a massive and concerted sensitization campaign directed at the public to ensure the imbibing of safe and
best practices towards limiting spread
5) Engaging the heads of public and private sector institutions, organizations and businesses to extend work-from-safe
locations policy in a bit to further reduce citizens’ movement
6) Combat corruption in the Health sector to reduce cost and increase efficiency and quality of service. Nigeria’s healthcare
sector must be supported through adequate funding, incentives for health workers, and healthcare subsidies for the most
vulnerable people.
In a midterm approach, the exposed sectors need to have health & safety concepts and strategies as well as proper
monitoring in regards to COVID-19 mitigation measures and programs while the training of the exposed professionals and
essential service providers must be thoroughly planned and executed on a continually effective basis. This could be
addressed with ‘train the trainer’ systems to achieve a pyramid-like cascading effect of the knowledge needed.
In a long-term approach, a campaign to support the repatriation of “dormant” Nigerian capital, stashed in offshore accounts
by Nigerian entrepreneurs and politicians to be utilized for the public good. This initiative should be supported by FMoF and
CBN incentives (tax - and legal amnesties), documented and channeled to support the restructuring and improvement of
the Nigerian Health Sector whilst in parallel the ability and processes for investments in the Health sector must be optimized
and boosted in combination with a boost in qualification and training of the Health sector workers.
There are organizations which have already started activities in this direction – they should be supported by every
stakeholder in the “Nigeria project”.
There can be no real growth without healthy populations.
No sustainable development without tackling disease and malnutrition.
No international security without assisting crisis-ridden countries…….
..and No hope for the spread of freedom, democracy and human dignity unless we treat HEALTH as a basic human right.
-- Gro Brundtland