The Victims Support Fund (VSF) Emergency Taskforce on COVID-19, on Monday donated three solar-powered boreholes and other Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities to some secondary schools in Nasarawa State.
Chairperson of the Task Force, Mrs Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji made the presentation on behalf of VSF at Government Science School in Wamba Local Government Area of the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the benefiting schools in the state are: Government Science Secondary School, Wamba, Government Secondary School, Ketura in Awe Local Government Area and Government Secondary School, Panda in Karu Local Government Area.
In her speech, Akerele-Ogunsiji said the organisation was concerned about the plight of students and teachers, especially in densely populated areas during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She attributed this to the intervention which included 54 borehole facilities and 216 hand-washing stations to 18 states across the six geopolitical zones, including Nasarawa, estimated at N210 million.
She added the taskforce also chose Nasarawa for its intervention because of the impressive response of the state government in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were very excited to learn that even before a single case of COVID-19 was recorded in Nasarawa , the state government had already set up five isolation centres across the state.
“Also the state governor gave a sum of N10 million and members of the state executive council also donated half of their salaries among other steps taken to ensure the state is able to combat COVID-19,”she said.
She explained that each of the schools received a solar-powered borehole, four hand-wash stations, 2000 pieces of re-usable facemasks, five pieces of four-litre hand-sanitisers, 120 bottles of 500ml liquid hand-wash and five cartons of bleach.
Akerele-Ogunsiji also said the aim of setting up the hand-wash stations was to encourage regular hand-washing among students and teachers in schools, adding that hand-washing is the singular preventive measure against the COVID-19 pandemic.”
According to her, the taskforce an emergency response team inaugurated by the Chairman of the VSF, retired Gen. Theophilus Danjuma to provide palliative measures to displaced and vulnerable persons, as well as provide institutional support to agencies supporting the national efforts to fight COVID-19.
Akerele-Ogunsiji said the taskforce, which had successfully carried out the first and second phases of the COVID- 19 intervention in April and June 2020, also commenced the third phase in Nov. 19, 2020 in Abuja, with Nasarawa benefitting from the third phase.
In her welcome address, Hajiya Fatu Sabo, Nasarawa State Commissioner for Education appreciated VSF for the intervention and urged other establishments and individuals to emulate the gesture.
She explained that the ministry in its little way of preventing the spread of COVID-19 procured and distributed liquid soaps, hand sanitisers, hand-washing buckets, infra-red thermometers, first aid boxes, medicament and face masks to all the 418 public secondary schools in the state.
“In addition, the ministry has since procured and distributed bunk beds, mattresses and treated mosquito nets to the 29 public boarding secondary schools in the state.
“Also, the ministry constructed 6500 dual desks which will soon be delivered to our secondary schools,” she said.
Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Mallam Musa Wude, Principal, GSS Wamba, thanked the taskforce for the intervention and assured that the facilities would be properly maintained and judiciously distributed among the students.
“We promise to take care of the facilities for maximal and long lasting utilisation,” he said. (NAN)
