As Nigeria struggles to keep up with covid-19 vaccination and testing, Fola Tinubu, the managing director of Primero Transport Services Limited, took to the streets of Lagos to distribute over 4000 masks to residents.
The mask distribution which was a part of the company’s Clean Up Mile 12 programmes, was to complement the Mask Up Lagos campaign created by the state government in the wake of the pandemic.
The virus has infected around 219 million people and also killed around 4 million worldwide. Covid-19 data shows that Nigeria has recorded over 198, 000 cases, and over 2, 000 deaths.
Lagos still remains the epicentre of infections with 74, 771 cases confirmed, and 652 deaths recorded, according to data from Nigeria’s disease control agency. Yet, Nigerians seem to be lax in adhering to covid-19 safety measures.
Tinubu who was concerned about the spread of the virus and the death toll recorded, called for precaution.
He said it was important to educate people and let them know that the pandemic is serious and the only way around it is prevention which involves the use of masks, washing of hands, and doing everything that the government is asking citizens to do.
“That’s the only way around it,” he said. “There is no point in denying it and saying that it doesn’t exist. It does exist and so many people have died all over the world.”
Tinubu said the pandemic is still around and so many lives have been lost across Nigeria. Explaining the severity of the pandemic, he said there are some good friends of his that are still in the hospital.
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He, therefore, called on all Nigerians to do their best to keep safe by keeping to all preventive measures recommended by the government.
“Covid-19 is real,” he adds, “and we all have to do our best to make sure we don’t catch it and that is why we donated over 4000 masks today. Precaution is better than cure so that you don’t get the virus.”
Meanwhile, the Clean Up Mile 12 exercise is Primero’s social responsibility programme held in partnership with the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA).
Tinubu and his staff cleaned the Mile 12 area, under the bridge, and areas around the BRT terminal. The company had a similar clean-up event in Ikorodu some months ago, and BusinessDay learnt that next one will probably be in Lagos Island.
According to Tinubu, the initiative is meant to clean up the environment and protect it because it affects everyone, noting that the organisation had to do its best as a corporate organisation to join hands in cleaning the environment.
A cleaner environment is better for all in the long run, he argued, while also expressing hope that the event will have shown residents that they need to clean their environment and that they would keep it up.
“The idea is to encourage people on the need for a cleaner environment. People saw us coming out today, and some of the bus conductors joined us and ended up helped in cleaning the environment,” he said.
Updating this publication on steps taken to improve its service to residents, he said the company is working to revamp its buses.
Primero had recently bought parts worth over a billion naira which landed about two weeks ago and also brought in some technicians from China. This is in a bid to start revamping the buses and putting them out so that there will be more buses on the road.
Tinubu explained that with more buses on the roads, the waiting time will be reduced, and therefore, said they will ensure they fix the buses so that they do not break down as often as they do.
“So, we’ve spent a lot of money, almost 2billion doing this revamping. Lagosians, and people living in Ikorodu will start seeing a major improvement on the services
