The Ekiti State government on Thursday took delivery of equipment and materials produced and donated to the state by the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti, aimed at containing the spread of the dreaded COVID-19.
Receiving the equipment and materials on behalf of the state government, the state deputy governor, Chief Bisi Egbeyemi, represented by the Deputy Chief of Staff, DCoS, Mr. Tade Aluko, hailed the authorities of the polytechnic for the gesture; even as he described the COVID-19 pandemic as a “war which must be confronted by well-meaning individuals, interest groups and corporate organisations.”
Egbeyemi stressed that the state government welcomes all initiatives and innovations that will help reduce the spread of COVID-19 to the barest minimum.
The Rector of the Polytechnic, Dr. Dayo Oladebeye, led members of the management and other top officials of the institution to make the presentation.
Noting that the materials donated are very relevant in the battle against the pandemic, the deputy governor expressed satisfaction that all the materials are locally manufactured and made in line with local content policy of the government.
Some of the equipment handed over by the Rector include pedal-operated hand washing and sanitising machines, solar-powered non-contact hand washing, sanitising and drying machine.
Others are non-contact standalone infrared temperature sensing device, non-contact body disinfecting machine, hand sanitisers, liquid soaps and branded face masks; all produced by the engineers of the polytechnic
The deputy governor said the production of the materials attested to the innovation and creativity of the staff and students of the polytechnic in providing solutions to the prevailing challenges facing the entire world and Nigeria.
In his address, the Rector, Dr. Oladebeye, said that the gesture was to complement the efforts of both the Federal and the state governments in curbing the spread of the pandemic and diligently carried out with profound and commendable results.
While soliciting for the assistance of the state government to make the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti an Isolation Centre, which is a vital request for resumption of schools as already set by the Federal Ministry of Education, the Rector also disclosed that the authorities of the polytechnic has forwarded a letter to the state government requesting for the approval and accreditation of the institution as a Test Centre for COVID-19 to give more people opportunities of being tested to know their status.
Oladebeye therefore appealed for patronage from the state government to purchase the products from the polytechnic at affordable prices to be out in places like government offices, public schools, markets, motor parks, churches and mosques.
Commending the polytechnic for the innovative products, the Special Adviser to the Ekiti State governor on Development Partnerships, Mrs. Margaret Fagboyo, promised that the equipment and materials would be used for the purposes meant for.
She also used the opportunity of the presentation to appeal to well-meaning individuals and corporate bodies in and outside the state to partner with the government to reduce the scourge of COVID-19 in Ekiti State.
