September 01, 2014 – Lagos State Government on Monday acknowledged that it has received the N200 million approved for the state by the Federal Executive Council for the containment of Ebola Virus Disease(EVD) in Lagos.
Governor of the state, Mr. Babatunde Fashola who made the announcement while receiving donation of special Ebola kits to the Lagos State Government by MTN said the money was received from the Federal Government on Wednesday last week.
The money is coming just as the FG has said the N200 million is different from N1.9 billion that President Goodluck Jonathan has earmarked as part of emergency measures to tackle outbreak of EVD in Nigeria.
Fashola thanked the MTN team led by Chairman of the telecommunication giant, Mr. Pascal Dozie for the donation, noting that such donation has become a tradition associated with the brand.
He said the Lagos State Government has benefited from similar gesture in the past when the organisation donated dialysis machines as well as others to the educational sector, adding that for him such gesture represents critical pillars in national development.
The governor said the partnership between the Lagos State Government and MTN under-pines resolve of the state to save human lives. Fashola thanked health workers at the Mainland Hospital, Yaba for standing up to be counted despite fear that pervaded outbreak of Ebola in Lagos State.
He however explained that the real problem confronting the state as regards Ebola has nothing to do with funds or materials but that the real problem is “sufficiency of Ebola virologist and specialist in managing it due to the challenge facing the sub-region.
He explained that so far the state has been able to save eight lives in collaboration with the Federal Government, noting that what it is shows is that Ebola is really not death sentence. He explained that there are currently two Ebola patients in isolation in Lagos adding that Lagos is in touch with other contact across the state.
Also speaking, Chairman of MTN, Mr. Pascal Dozie said his organisation visited to make the donation because it is impressed with what Lagos State Government has done in containing spread of EVD.
He thanked God that Ebola started in Lagos, noting that it would have been a pandemic if it had started elsewhere.
