Want imams, bishops, others to lead enlightenment campaigns

Governors of the 36 states of the federation have stressed the need to consider local manufacturing of a COVID-19 vaccine despite the current arrangement with global partners on its availability.

The chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, said this yesterday after a meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja with President Muhammadu Buhari.

Fielding questions from State House reporters, Fayemi said the meeting with President Buhari was to review a number of issues that were of interest to him and his fellow governors, particularly security, economy, vaccine’s management and the general outlook for 2021.

He said the president had agreed to inform the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 to use other influencers such as chief imams, bishops, top musicians and sports personalities, among others, to persuade citizens on the reality of the pandemic and the safety of vaccines to be administered.

He added that the governors would also like to demonstrate the effectiveness of the vaccines to the citizenry.

Asked whether the governors would also take the vaccines on live television, he said: “Absolutely. We too will like to demonstrate to our citizens that we believe the vaccines would work”.

Also speaking on security, the governor said that this year, President Buhari was determined to ensure a rapid reduction of attacks by bandits, kidnappers and other criminals in the country.