Moses Emorinken, Abuja
The Federal Government on Wednesday received the second donation of 2,000 Nigerian-made face masks from Israel, to boost its continued fight against the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic.
This donation is the second made by Israel in fulfillment of its planned donation of 10,000 face masks to support frontline health workers in the country. The first donation of 2,000 face masks was made on the 7th of May 2020.
The Director of Information, Media and Public Relations, Olujimi Oyetomi, made this known in a statement in Abuja.
According to the statement, “The Israeli Embassy in Nigeria led by H.E. Simoh Bem Soshan which earlier planned a donation of 10,000 face masks to medical staff who are in the frontline in Nigeria, has made good its promise coming with the second donation of 2,000 today, Wednesday, 12th August, 2020. The earlier donation of the first installment of 2,000 was made earlier on Thursday, 7th May, 2020.
“To this, the Honourable Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, who in the company of the Permanent Secretary, Health, Mr. A.M. Abdullahi received the second installment of the promised face masks, said he wish that Nigeria could reciprocate this kind gesture given the fact that Israel like every other country in the world is facing its own share of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria H.E. Simoh Bem Soshan had earlier pointed out that the face masks were designed in Israel but produced in Nigeria by a Nigerian-Israeli Company – Skill-G Nigeria.
“The Israeli Ambassador proudly announced that the production of the face masks were produced in Nigeria by Nigeria engineers, but regretted that the State of Israel would have love to donate all the planned 10,000 at once but that the production of technique is such that only 100 of such masks could be produced per day. So, with the second batch of 2,000 brought in, an outstanding 6,000 of such masks are still being expected.”
It added, “The Honourable Minister of Health gave two reasons why he is always feeling grateful whenever there is an extension of goodwill in forms of donations to Nigeria. He said: ‘First, we have a large population, and therefore, we need a lot of materials; Secondly, ‘No one knows how long this will last and where we are heading as we are all looking forward to vaccine, then everybody has to be ready to defend its citizens; that’s where we are placing a lot of emphasis on stockpiling.’
“Dr. Osagie Ehanire further said that ‘For the State of Israel, we know that you have your own problems and challenges of COVID-19 and as everyone is dealing with its own, it is very gratifying to note that you still have time to support your neighbour in need. We too wish we could also send you something to you in Israel, because that would have been mutual.”
Ehanire requested knowledge sharing with Israeli researchers on vaccine against COVID-19, so that the country will be able to access the vaccine when it is finally developed. He also sought the partnership of Israel in the establishment of the Medical Ambulance Emergency Service, which is currently underway.
