Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) on Tuesday donated cartons of alcohol-based hand sanitiser, handwash and face masks, which were produced by corps members, to Oyo State Government to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in the state.
The State Coordinator, NYSC, Oyo State, Mrs. Grace Ogbuogebe, who presented the items to the Comissioner for Youth and Sports in the state, Mr. Seun Fakorede, who also presented the items immediately to the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Bashir Bello, during a brief ceremony at the car park of the Ministry of Health in the state, said some corps members serving in the state, produced the items as a result of skill acquisition training they were made to pass through while on Orientation Camp in the state.
Ogbuogebe stated that the items were donated to the government in line with the directives of the Director-General of NYSC, Brig Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim, that corps members should should complement efforts of the government in fighting the COVID-1, saying the donated items were produced in accordance with the standards prescribed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Daily Sun observed that the donated items were well brainded with the name and logo of NYSC in Oyo State, both on the hand sanitiser and handwash. The label on the hand sanitiser stated that it contains 70 per cent of alcohol.
Ogbuogebe said: “The items that we donated to the government are World Health Organisation standards. Anyone who uses it has nothing to do with germs and coronavirus. Our corps members are amiable. Immediately the challenge came from the Director-General that all corps members should be around and should add to whatever the government is doing to assist the government, they have been up and doing.
“By themselves, they produced the donated items. We started the training with them in the camp through skill acquisition, so that after NYSC, they will not be roaming the streets, looking for work. So, when the challenge of this pandemic came in, they have to take the challenge by taking the bull by the horns to assist the state government at all levels. In fact, we have also donated to some hospitals in the state. Now, we are donating to the state government.
“We donated four cartons of hand sanitiser of WHO standard. We also donated cartons of handwash and face masks that can prevent 99 per cent of any virus or germs from the mouth, nose and eyes.
“We have the capacity to mass produce in case the state government wants to us to do so. Two corps members did the face masks, and four corps members did the sanitiser and handwash.”
Commissioner for Health, Dr. Bashir Bello, and his counterpart in the Ministry of Youth a d Sports, Seun Fakorede, thanked the NYSC for the gesture, promising that the items would be justifiably used.
Fakorede stated: “This is a very laudable one. The corps members, under the supervision of NYSC, have taken the initiative in order to end the current situation of COVID-19. I am particularly impressed because these items will go a long way in helping to reduce the spread of COVID-19.”
Bello, while fielding questions from journalists on the possibility of collaborating with NYSC for mass production of the donated items for the state, said: “In time of pandemic like this, you don’t rule out any probability. Meanwhile, the Association of Oyo State Pharmacists and those hospital based pharmacists are actually producing similar things. We are having donations from different quarters. And if needs be, there is an automatic seamless cooperation. It is just a question of getting through to the state coordinator and we’ll probably order for more.
“This will have to be between the Pharmacy Department of the Ministry of Health, the Office of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) as the case may be, and don’t rule out the Ministry of Finance because of other factors that will be involved. So, we are looking into any likely cooperative factors. We are not ruling out any factor. We can still continue all these apart from the donation they have made to us.”