The Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), a subsidiary of the NNPC, has donated personal protective and medical equipment worth millions of naira to the Delta State Government.
The donation of the items by the subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday in Asaba, was in support of the government’s response activities against COVID-19 pandemic.
The items included, five cartons of face masks, 50 packs (5,000 pieces) of hand gloves and 300 tubes of disinfective wipes.
Others are 166 cartons of hand sanitisers, 83 cartons of hand wash and 100 sets of personal protective equipment, among others.
The Managing Director, NPDC, Mansur Sambo, represented by Manager, Community Relations, NPDC,Mr Dahiru Abubakar, presented the items to the state government.
Sambo said the gesture was part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibilities to states where NPDC operated.
“We are here to make presentation of personal protective and medical equipment to the Delta State government.
“The items are essentially for the doctors, nurses and other medical professionals who are at the forefront in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic in not just Delta but Nigeria in general .
“The presentation is made in view of NPDC understanding of the prevalent problem the world is facing in trying to eliminate the spread of COVID-19.
“We are making the donation in view of the fact that doctors and nurses are the first to handle patients which make them the most vulnerable.
“The contributions of medical professionals are enormous and we must do whatever we can to support and appreciate them,” Sambo said.
According to him, it is in view of their contribution to the wellbeing of humanity and the fight against COVID-19 that the company thought it wise to make the donation.
The Delta Commissioner for Health, Dr Mordi Ononye, who received the items at the Asaba General Hospital on behalf of the state government, thanked NPDC for the gesture.
Ononye said, “On behalf of the Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, we accept with thanksgiving, the trucks loaded with medical supplies for our medical professionals in the state.
“It shows that NPDC is socially responsive. Obviously the doctors and nurses are at the forefront putting their lives at risk in trying to save others.
“As at the end of yesterday we still had not recorded any case in Delta State. All the tests conducted have come back negative, but we are stepping up surveillance activities.
“But if we do record any, the truck load of materials you just brought will be helpful to ensure that we do not record any mortality, he said.