The Director-General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Dr, Garuba Abati, has said that the Chinese medical experts will be in Nigeria to help in the fight against coronavirus.
Abari said that they are coming on the strength of an invitation by the Federal Governmen
The NOA chief who spoke on Saturday in Abuja , explained however that they would “not directly take charge of the fight…”
Te explanation is coming on the wings of growing apprehension among Nigerians about receiving such help from the China in the wake of prevailing conspiracy theories surrounding the dreaded virus.
Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, had announced recently that an 18-man team of Chinese medical experts “would visit Nigeria to support the fight against coronavirus.”
Abari said the 18-man Chinese medical team was “only coming to share experiences with the NCDC, because China had succeeded in the fight.”
“Whatever information the Chinese medical team makes available to NCDC will be filtered and applied to address the peculiar challenges of the country on handling the COVID-19 scourge,” Abari said.
“This is a global pandemic and from wherever assistance comes, you cannot reject it.
He said further, “For instance, the United States is opening its doors to all volunteers that will come and assist them because they are also getting overwhelmed.
“Despite its fine medical facilities and expertise, the US is now saying any form of assistance coming from anywhere that will add value to the fight against COVID-19 is welcome.
“It is not as if the government of Nigeria is not appreciating the efforts of its medical experts. This is the time when Nigeria is proud and appreciating her own medical experts and showcasing her best.
“This is the time that Nigeria is mopping all its competent hands, both active and inactive, and bringing them together to ensure that we beef up competent human capacity required to address the issue at hand.”
