CBN intervention on COVID-19 commendable

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) must be commended for its intervention package to save the Nigerian economy from the ravages of the COVID-19. We praise the Central Bank Governor, Godwin  Emefieli for his patriotism and far-sightedness in recognising the need for pharmaceutical companies to expand and upgrade their facilities to meet current COVID-19 and […]

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) must be commended for its intervention package to save the Nigerian economy from the ravages of the COVID-19. We praise the Central Bank Governor, Godwin  Emefieli for his patriotism and far-sightedness in recognising the need for pharmaceutical companies to expand and upgrade their facilities to meet current COVID-19 and future health care challenges. We also applaud the Federal Government under the leadership of Muhammad Buhari for creating the credible environment to make this and other interventions possible – reminding Nigerians of the Presidential Task Force (PTF), effective interventions of the mid-nineties.

The task before the CBN governor’s resolve is to ensure that this intervention gets to the indigenous firms that truly need it – indigenous firms, wholly owned by Nigerians, with proven commitment to the wellbeing of Nigerians. These companies, like Europharm, are known to have emerged as the fulcrum of healthcare in their host geo-political regions and eventually became the diehard drivers of Nigeria’s export ambition.

In view of the enormous sacrifices and investments made by our indigenous pharmaceutical companies, the CBN intervention on COVID-19 should first and foremost, identify these genuine companies, enable their capacities to produce drugs needed to combat COVID-19, refurbish ageing infrastructure and install state of the art equipment to enable them to participate competitively in future occurrences. The point is that the CBN governor must ensure that this intervention does not end up being cosmetic but enhances the industrial capacities of the Nigerian state. Historically, Nigeria was not part of the industrial revolution because of colonialism. We played lip service to the ICT revolution of the first decade of the 21st century and ended up a dumping ground for other nations. Today, by default, COVID-19 presents this nation an opportunity to look inwards and address mistakes of ignorance and greed and put Nigeria on a true path for growth and dominance in Africa.

Alh. Muhammadu Nasir, MD/CEO, Europharm Pharmaceuticals, Jos