By Safiu Kehinde
President Muhammadu Buhari has called upon the nation’s universities to conduct researches geared towards discovering antidote for Covid-19.
He revealed this on Saturday at the 36th convocation ceremony of University of Ilorin where he was represented by Professor Ignatius Onimawu of the National Universities Commission (NUC).
According to The Tribune, the president said that the nation expects nothing less from the university system, adding that Nigerian universities are meant to emphasize their research attention on challenges facing the Nigerian societies and proffer practical solutions within the context of national development.
He further encouraged the University of Ilorin to play a leading role in the research efforts to develop Covid-19 antidotes in Nigeria.
“I, therefore, challenge the universities to give their best in the fight against this common and unrelenting enemy of humanity. I enjoin our researchers to collaborate among themselves and look forward to bringing an effective solution to this medical challenge. The nation expects your university to play a leading role in the research efforts to develop COVID-19 antidote in Nigeria. The nation expects nothing less from the Nigerian university system,” he was quoted as saying.
Recall that last month, the World Bank approved Nigeria’s additional $400 million credit from the Organization’s International Development Association (IDA) for the acquisition of Covid-19 vaccine and its deployment.
According to World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, the additional funding would ensure that the Federal Government has the necessary financial resources to keep its vaccination drive going which implies that Nigerians will have increased access to the COVID-19 vaccination.
With the acquisition of the IDA credit, Nigeria has reportedly administered 8.2 million vaccines so far.
Reuters reported last week that the country administered an average of 89,706 doses of the vaccine each day. At such rate, vaccinating another 10% of Nigeria’s population will take a further 449 days which is equivalent to a year and some months.
