Students of Course 43 of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji are currently on a study tour of Kano, to understudy the curtailment strategy adopted by the administration of Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje which led to the massive reduction in the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in the state.
The students, who are led by S. A. Akinwande, a commodore in Nigerian Airforce, and other senior military officers which include the Commandant of the College Air, Abubakar Sadiq Imam, also a Commodore, paid a working visit to the Governor, at Government House, Kano, on Monday.
Briefing the governor about the essence of the visit, the team lead, Akinwande, told the governor that they are in the state to particularly, obtain firsthand information about the strategy adopted by the state government which translated to the flattening of the curve of the pandemic within what seems to be a record period in the state.
“The essence of this visit is to enable the students to study the set of activities deployed by the state government in the fight against the pandemic. This is to help them broaden their knowledge and understanding of His Excellency’s effort.
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“Sir, it is on record that the positive response by the state government under your able leadership was indeed what help in flattening the curve of the pandemic in the state, subsequently led to a giant recovery from the impact of the disease within a short space of time. This is quite commendable,” the Team Lead stated.
Akinwande further disclosed that the efforts of the Ganduje administration in this regard were what informed the choice of Kano state for the study tour. Believing that the study would enable students to draw valuable lessons on the management of the pandemic in the country.
He said that at the end of the tour, the students will return to the College to Analyse data collated during the tour, and the result of the study will be made available to the government to be used to shape the formulation of policies in that direction.
Addressing the students, Governor Ganduje commended them for the choice of Kano for the visit, noting that the efforts put in during the heydays of the pandemic would be maintained until the disease is fully overcome.
“We deeply appreciated you, and your engagement towards generating the necessary manpower for the overall development of our dear nation. I also want to use this opportunity to commend you for choosing the most appropriate theme of “COVID-19 and Socio-economic Development, as an area of study in the course of your programme in the state.
He revealed that his administration adopted a Tripartite Strategy in tackling the menace, focusing on Preventive, Curative, and Palliative measures.
“Even before the emergence of the first index case in the state we took many measures that we termed as preventive measures against the pandemic. We prepared ourselves with Isolation Centres, we had health workers in place we got in place equipment that was used, among many other things. That was the preventive aspect of it.
“On the Curative front, the state government, after the emergence of the first index case deployed the Isolation Centres and Testing Centres it has acquired. We initially had only one Testing Centre at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. But as time goes on we were able to increase it to five Testing Centres. Aliko Dangote, President Dangote Group provided a mobile Testing Centre. So also Abdussamad Isyaka Rabi’u, President of BUA Group contributed immensely, there were many other Centres we got from other sources.
“On the issue of Palliative understanding very clearly that the pandemic came along with many hardships. As such, we concluded that we needed to give out some palliatives to our people to cushion the effect of the pandemic. We gave out palliatives in three batches to the most vulnerable population of the state from the contributions of items received from individuals and organisations”, he explained.
