The Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, Hajiya Dr.Ramattu Tijjani Aliyu yesterday in Abuja lent her support for the use of made-In-Nigeria safety disinfectant devices, ventilators and other medical equipment produced by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. According to her, the fight against the disease abinitio was a challenge to the ingenuity of Nigerian scientists, engineers and all other fields of medicine to support the government to ward off the pandemic from Nigeria.

“Necessity is the mother of invention” said the Minister, even as she commended the initiatives by NASENI. She expressed confidence that the devices would help sanitize Nigeria environments when fully deployed. The Minister while taking inspection tour of NASENI facilities witnessed the demonstration of the Ventilators, other disinfectant safety devices and they all were working perfectly. The equipment and devices were launched last week by the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu.

In the last one week, three (3) Ministers in the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had visited NASENI headquarters in Abuja including the Senate Committee on Science and Technology led by its Chair, Senator Uche Ekwunife to see for themselves the various intervention products developed by the Agency to assist the government in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Tijjani(FCT Minister)It would be a thing of pride to deploy technologies and initiatives by Nigerian scientists and Engineers to solve Nigeria problems especially a pandemic like COVID-19 now that it seemed there was no particular nation in the world with the magic wand to assist others.

While commending the management of NASENI and the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology for the initiative to manufacture locally produced Ventilators and disinfectant safety devices, the Minister said the intervention would not only save the country from further depletion of scarce foreign reserves but also the feat marked the opportunity for Nigeria intellectual community to once again pride itself to have used science, technology and innovation to solve Nigeria health challenge.

Dr.Tijjani pledged that the Federal Capital Territory Administration, Nigeria’s seat of power, was ready to work with NASENI to deploy NASENI Ventilators to manage cases of COVID-19 in all activated hospitals and isolation facilities within the Federal Capital Territory.

The Minister’s remarks after inspecting NASENI COVID-19 interventions included: “I think this development of NASENI interventions for the fight against COVID-19 is really an achievement that had come with a very great delight. The innovations not only could safely disinfect persons totally even with their own clothes on, but also clear evidence that Nigeria is getting somewhere. It is a testimony that we are not only locked-down to cry helplessly for outside world’s help as a nation but this is a worthy response to challenge by our very brilliant scientists and knowledgeable people to go back to the drawing board to proffer solutions to societal problems with what they have acquired in school, various trainings and technologies experiences”.

Rome was not built in a day, remarked by the Minister, adding that, God willing the very best of our own people would come out this time around. God willing Nigeria will come out with a breakthrough that the world would celebrate soon. Nigeria too would come out with our own vaccines and not all the time we would have to be looking up to other nations to save us, rather we shall save ourselves as Nigerians” I am surprised at what I am seeing and also I am impressed by the ingenuity demonstrated by scientists and Engineers in NASENI”.

Earlier, while briefing the Minister on the interventions, the Managing Director HEDI, Kano, Dr.Onuwe Adulmalik who stood in for the Executive Vice Chairman/CE of the Agency Prof. Mohammed Sani Haruna disclosed that “given the right support and proper funding, NASENI has the capacity to roll out about Forty (40) ventilators per week and also the various safety disinfectant devices respectively”.

SIGNED:

Olusegun Ayeoyenikan

Deputy Director (Information)

NASENI.