The federal government has said the distribution of essential products such as food, medicines , pharmaceutical and agro-allied products would continue unhindered throughout the period of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
The Minister of Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, disclosed this during his weekly update on the performance of the Emergency Operation Centre of the Committee on Sustainable Production and Delivery of Essential Commodities during COVID-19 in Abuja.
He said they are working assiduously to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 lockdown on the economy.
He said there are mass production, transportation and distribution of essential products such as food, medical, pharmaceutical and agro-allied products.
Adebayo said despite initial challenges faced as a result of inter-state border closure by some states Governors, the ministry is constantly engaging relevant stakeholders to ensure free-flow of essential cargo within the country and at the ports of arrival.
“I am happy to announce that we have also set up a Post C-19, Industry, Trade and Investment Sustainability Committee that will review the FMITI goals and propose strategic adjustments after applying lessons learnt and recommendations from the COVID-19 outbreak”. Adebayo Added.
The Minister applauded the efforts of EOC members in their prompt response in resolving incidences that will hinder the free flow of Essential Commodities, saying they have not only done very well in representing the Ministry, they have also been proactive in projecting the Ministry as well as representing it at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID- 19 .
“Now we are a force to reckon with, it is a fact that a special Committee has been set up which is headed by FMITI” he added.
Also speaking, the Minister of State, Amb. Mariam Yalwaji Katagum said that as an offshoot of the Committee on Sustainable Production/Delivery of Essential Commodities (SPEC) the Ministry established an Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) to monitor the supply of essential commodities nationwide adding that, the operation centre, which is housed at the FMITI, monitors the live status of transportation and delivery of essential goods to cut down on the difficulties being faced by manufacturers, transporters, and distributors of Essential Commodities across the country.
“The Committee has received a total number of 55 requests for intervention across the country, 54 of which have been resolved at the level of the Committee. 68% of these interventions are logistics related, and about 20% of the interventions are market Intelligence issues where we have been able to pair supply and demand to keep production afloat. Other requests had to do with direct manufacturing operations and some requests were retail related”.
“We implore Nigerians to be resilient and remain calm and positive as we tackle this unprecedented pandemic as she assured that the Ministry in collaboration with all the critical stakeholders will continue to ensure that the impact of this on the economy and on households across the country is significantly reduced,”. Katagum added.
