As a way of cushioning the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic that has devastated a vast majority of people, especially the vulnerable whose daily livelihood has been greatly affected, the Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID), has rolled out palliative measures to cater to 1.7 million households amounting to about 10 million people across the 774 local governments in the country, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The coalition has simultaneously flagged-off the distribution of palliatives in the following states: Bauchi, Jigawa, Kogi, Anambra, Ogun, Kebbi, Ekiti, Borno, Yobe, Enugu, and Plateau. Each household is said to receive one bag of 10kg rice, one carton of pasta, two cartons of noodles, one bag of 5kg of sugar, one bag of 1kg of salt and one bag of 5kg of garri, semovita, and maize. To ensure that these palliatives get to the intended individuals, especially the vulnerable, the distribution has taken a bottom-up approach. The coalition will leverage its networks to reach all 774 local government areas and will assign its member partners that are currently over 80 private organisations, to oversee the delivery of the food items.
According to CACOVID administrator and CEO of Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF), Zouera Youssoufou, “CACOVID has since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic been committed to providing relief packages to the most vulnerable. The coalition’s primary focus is to aid the federal government in the fight against COVID-19. Having done this successfully, we are turning our attention to offering a reprieve to households who have been adversely affected by the scourge of the virus. Through this food relief programme, we will be reducing the risk of a second viral wave by encouraging people to remain indoors rather than expose themselves when seeking to provide food for themselves and their families.”
CACOVID is a private-sector alliance tasked with pulling resources across industries to provide technical and operational support while providing funding and building advocacy through aggressive awareness drives. So far, the coalition has built and revamped testing and isolation centres to strengthen the response capacity of states. They have also supported the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) with over 300,000 test kits and personal protective equipment (PPES).To join CACOVID in the fight against coronavirus, interested individuals could reach the otganisers via email on supportcacovid@actrustfoundation.org.
