By Salisu Sani-Idris
April 22, 2020
COVID-19: Sen. Barau urges President Buhari to rescue Kano
The Chairman Senate Committee on Appropriation, Sen. Barau Jibrin, representing Kano North, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to offer financial assistance to Kano State to control the rising spread of covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja, Jibrin, stressed the need for the Federal Government to assist Kano government with funds, equipment and additional testing facilities to meet the challenges of the most populous state in the country.
The lawmaker noted that the Federal Government assistance to kano would not only be of help to the state but also to the states of Northern Nigeria and invariably the country because of the strategic role the state plays in the life of the nation.
He cited the Federal Government involvement and assistance to Lagos state by throwing its weight and resources behind the state because of its strategic location and importance to the country.
Jibrin noted that with the alarming rate of the spread of Covid-19, it became imperative for President Buhari to help Kano state overcome the threat of covid-19.
He pleaded that the government should not wait until the virus spreads beyond the capability of the state before coming in.
He also advised that as it did in Lagos from the beginning, the Buhari led government should extend the same measure of assistance to Kano state.
The lawmaker commended Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano for his administration’s proactive steps taken to combat the pandemic as attested by the Director-General of the Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu.
“The Covid-19 pandemic is such that no state government can effectively deal with it alone without the assistance of Federal Government no matter how rich and developed such sub-national could be.
“President Muhammadu Buhari should please help to urgently assist Kano State at this point in time,” he said.
He lamented that if not because of the current Lockdown, he would have raised a motion to that effect on the floor of the upper chamber of the National Assembly.
He noted that statistics available revealed that Kano was presently the third highest state with Covid-19 cases in the country after Lagos and Abuja.