The Federal Government has expressed its willingness to partner Cuba in the production of Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine to tackle various variants in the country.
The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu made this disclosure when he received the Cuban ambassador to Nigeria, Clara Paulido-Escandell, who paid him a courtesy visit in his office today (July 12) in Abuja.
He said Nigeria was working very hard to produce a locally made vaccine to enable its professionals and scientists to be involved in the production process, pointing out that the production of the vaccine locally would help create jobs and equally reduce poverty level in the face of the rising population of the country.
He further stated that Nigeria was working towards reactivating its effort in research towards the production of Covid-19 vaccine so other countries could benefit from us as well as the country remaining competitive with other countries in vaccine production.
In Nigeria, he said many candidates had brought claims for the disease cure, which are being investigated at various levels and undergoing clinical test at present, adding the country would consider so many areas in its collaboration with Cuba for the good of both countries
He also used the opportunity to call on Nigerian professionals and the organised private sector (OPS) to be informed that the Executive Order No. 5 is operational, adding if any Nigerian professional suffered any unfairness in the procurement process the ministry should be notified.
“We want all Nigerian professionals to be at the centre of economic activities in the country and we believe strongly that this is the only way enterprises, cooperation and socio-economic growth will become very strong,” he said.
Earlier, Paulido-Escandell had told the minister her visit was in furtherance of the earlier one which was to collaborate with Nigeria on vaccine production, warning against the rise of a new COVID-19 variant.
