BY: VITALIS UGOH
A philanthropist and Chairman of Ben Akak Foundation, Engr. Ben Akak, has donated One Million Naira cash and medical materials to the Cross River State government and other health institutions to support its efforts against the Coronavirus.
Presenting the medical materials such as masks ,surgical gloves and sanitizers worth millions of Naira,to the state government through the State Commissioner for health, Dr. Betta Edu the wife of the chairman of the Foundation, Mrs. Joseline Akak, said the gesture is to support what the state government under the leadership of Senator Ben Ayade is putting in place to tackle the Coronavirus.
The Foundation which has come to stay is non political but very concerned about the people and the worrisome epidemic which had engulfed the whole world today.
Worried by the pandemic nature of the Coronavirus, the foundation put up a “radio gingle to sensitise and create awareness to Cross Riverians especially those along border areas.
Currently, as the gingle is still running the foundation deemed it fit to support the efforts of governor Ben Ayade by making the donations to help it tackle the Coronavirus. This is our simple way of caring and showing support to government and our people.
“We are doing this purely on humanitarian basis. The foundation is not about politics. It has come to stay and it is for humanity purposes, she added.
He was appealed to Cross Riverians as well as other residents to stick strictly to the directives from the World Health Organisation and the state government, to stay at home, wash their hands always and observe distancing for now”.
He lauded the state government for all the measures it had put in place given its monthly allocation from the Federal Government.
“Senator Ben Ayade has done so much in readiness to tackle the Coronavirus in the state even when there is no confirmed cases yet, he added”.
The foundation, he said, apart from what it is doing today, had reached out to so many individuals within the state who cannot afford the masks, sanitizers as well as cash to sustain their families during this difficult time.
Receiving the items on behalf of the state government, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Betta Edu, expressed gratitude to God for Cross Riverians to have the Ben Akak Foundation especially during period this crisis.
She lauded the chairman of the foundation, Engr. Ben Akak for having gone beyond bounds to show kindness to humanity by making this donation for the sake of Coronavirus epidemic across the world.
“This problem is not about Ministry of Information, or about an individual, it is a collective responsibility . It is a fight against humanity. This is virus that the potential to wipe out humans in their numbers. As we speak over 45000 people globally are already .dead in some countries, they are chuning them out like tissue papers, .she added”.
Gracefully, we do not have any case of Coronavirus yet in Cross River State. However, she thanked the foundation and described the donations as ” phenomenal for an individual to have a foundation to mobile young men and women to be able to do this at this critical time in our life”
The team also visited the University of Calabar Teaching hospital, Nigerian Navy Reference Hospital, the Physchiatric hospital, and one of the markets in the state capital to donate the medical materials.
Prof. Ngim Ogbu Ngim, Chairman Medical Advisory Council, UCTH, and the Matron of the Nigerian Navy Reference hospital’s Mrs. R. O Appola had in different points lauded the support from the foundation and prayed that the Coronavirus should not visit the state.
