The Nigerian Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment says it has established an Emergency Operation Center to monitor the supply of essential commodities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Adebayo Adeniyi disclosed this during a press briefing in Abuja Nigeria’s Capital.
He said the Operation Centre will help monitor the real-time status of the transportation and delivery of essential goods to cut down on the difficulties being faced by manufacturers, transporters, and distributors of essential commodities across the country.
“I would like to thank the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, for his cooperation, and the assistance of his men in ensuring that all legitimate requests from the Secretariat that we have set up are promptly cleared”. He said.
“What this means is that the raw material needs of our manufacturers are being met, and recognized road transporters of essential goods are able to transport goods”.
“We are working with SON and NAFDAC to ensure the acceleration of the issuance of Certificates of Standards of essential items – without sacrificing the quality of these items. Such items include hand sanitizers; coveralls for our medical workers; face masks; needles; goggles; gloves; Sodium Hypo Chloride; and Digital Thermometers”. The Minister added.
The President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Mansur Ahmed who commended the efforts of the Ministry in its fight against COVID-19 said in the last 48 hours the Centre has been able to resolve a lot of problems faced by manufacturers trying to deliver their product to the market or raw materials to their various warehouses.
“In relation to the mask production, we have been receiving confirmation of more manufacturers in the position either to start producing or to expand their production and the current total I have in the country can produce 27 million masks a month”.
Source: VON
