3rd December, 2021
Akwa Ibom Governor, Emmanuel Udom has said that the state will not lock down owing to the Omicron Covid-19 variant now spreading the world.
He said this in Uyo, while receiving a donation of medical consumables by Saraya Japan, a Japanese-based company working in collaboration with Junior Chambers International, JCI Nigeria.
Gov Udom said “the state may not embark on another lockdown because of the emerging “Omicron” wave of the Coronavirus. it is pertinent for everyone to observe basic protective procedures against the virus and ensure a safe Yuletide.”
Akwa Ibom received 303,000 units of hand sanitizers, worth over N280 million, for distribution to the citizens of the state.
The governor urged foreign companies to set up their production plants in the state so that products would be localised and boosted even as he expressed readiness to ensure the speedy acquisition of land for the building of factories.
He directed the Commissioner for Health, Prof Augustine Umoh, to ensure the distribution of the donated items to all government hospitals and public places across the state.
The health commissioner highlighted the huge investment of Gov Udom in the health sector and said the state can tackle the threatening new virus, as it were in the earlier waves.
President of Saraya Japan, Dr. Saraya Yusuke, represented by Pascal Dike, said the company has been into health and hygiene products since the 1960s in Japan.
He said the donation was not only part of efforts by the company to show support to the government in their fight against coronavirus but to establish their presence in Nigeria.