I was quite impressed to see, for instance, Nigeria putting in place and immediately establishing a hospital.
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, has commended Nigeria’s response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the country. The Secretary-General who spoke at a virtual news briefing in New York, the United States on Friday, 3 April 2020, singled out Nigeria as a “developing country that has shown a remarkable capacity to respond to the Coronavirus.”
He continued, “I have to say this, some of these developing countries have shown a remarkable capacity to respond. I was quite impressed to see, for instance, Nigeria putting in place and immediately establishing a hospital. And I saw difficulties in countries that are much more developed to do quickly the same.”
The United Nations system in Nigeria is supporting the Government of Nigeria in containing the spread of the virus. The UN Country Team in Nigeria has established basket-fund with an initial contribution of $2 Million by UN Agencies for the procurement of essential medical supplies. The UN in Nigeria has also offered the Government of Nigeria the following support: Engagement based on national ownership and leadership of the response; Principle of “Four Ones”: One COVID-19 Action Response Plan; One Coordinating Authority; One Monitoring and Evaluation system and One finance and investment framework/ platform.
As at 10:30 pm on 3 April, there were 209 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. Twenty-five (25) have been discharged with four (4) deaths.