OUR MISSION TO KOGI OVER CORONAVIRUS FAILED- HEALTH MINISTER EXPLAINS WHY HE SENT A TEAM TO THE STATE

By Moses Emorinken, Abuja

 

The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, on Friday regrettably admitted that the Federal Government’s support mission to Kogi state in order to assist the state in responding to the challenges posed by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, has failed.

On Thursday, the delegation of the Federal Government comprising officials of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Dept. of Hospital Services of the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), literally had to flee the state for fear of being forced into isolation by the Kogi state government.

The delegation which set out on the mission to ascertain the claim by the state to be COVID-19 free and to boost its testing capacity were not received with open arms.

The Governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello, who ordered the isolation of NCDC’s officials said they had contravened their agency’s normal practice and protocol when a member of their delegation shook hands with the Director of Protocol, Sunday Ayenibe, after collecting the microphone from him.

The mandate of the FG delegation to Kogi, asides ascertaining the correctness of the claims by the state, was also to engage traditional rulers and community leaders in surveillance efforts.

Speaking during the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, in Abuja, Dr. Ehanire, said: “The Ministry of Health team sent to Kogi State has returned to Abuja, without mission accomplishment. New efforts will be made to engage Kogi authorities for resolution of differences.

“Kogi state is one of the few states that has said that they do not have COVID-19 patients, and they seem to be sure of that. The agreement we have had with them after discussions with the Governors (Kogi and Cross River) is that we should send a delegation to the states just to validate that fact and to be able to engage the state governors and commissioners of health and also other public health authority for validation.

“Of course, we need that for our national records and to be able to report to the world what the situation is in our country because by now the whole world knows that we do not have any record from these two states.

“We tried to send a team of the Ministry of Health and the NCDC into Kogi state yesterday but there were some differences there as to processes. This will mean that we need to re-engage the state Governor again and work with him and his team to create the conditions to which the Ministry of Health and the NCDC can complete their job.”

He explained that the setbacks the delegation faced only applies to Kogi not to Cross River state. It plans to send a team to Cross River next week for the same purpose. Cross River is the second state in the country that claims not to have a single case of COVID-19.

The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, while addressing the PTF, also added: “You can only offer help where the help is wanted. Yesterday we offered that help but it wasn’t in a place where the help could be accepted. Unfortunately, that is what happened last night. The reality is that we have had a great relationship with the state of Kogi.

“We have supported Kogi state in every possible way. It is one of the first states that has an Emergency Operation Center (EOC) supported by the NCDC. We gave the state epidemiologist a vehicle about a year and half ago to do his work. When we did all of that, I personally met the Governor of Kogi state and he gave me audience and we had a good interaction.

“I think in the long term, the purpose of our existence is to support the states. They have the primary responsibility of the health security in their state.”