Chidi Samuel| Nigeria on Thursday night confirmed 193 new cases of the novel coronavirus taking the country’s toll 5162.
The Nigeria Centre For Disease Control which made the disclosure via its Twitter handle, said Lagos, the epicentre of the outbreak recorded 58 new cases while Kano the second hardest-hit state had 46 new infections.
Jigawa and Yobe recorded 35 and 22 infections respectively while FCT had 9.
Ogun recorded 7 new cases, Plateau 5, Gombe 5, Imo 4, Edo 3, Kwara 3, Bornu 3, Bauchi, Nasarawa and Ondo recorded 1 case each.
The health agency stated that the country has 5162 coronavirus cases currently with 167 deaths and 1180 discharges.
The tweet read, ”193 new cases of #COVID19;
58-Lagos
46-Kano
35-Jigawa
12-Yobe
9-FCT
7-Ogun
5-Plateau
5-Gombe
4-Imo
3-Edo
3-Kwara
3-Borno
1-Bauchi
1-Nasarawa
1-Ondo
5162 cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria.”
Discharged: 1180
Deaths: 167
–NAFDAC DG: Nigeria has over-relied on the west for everything
Meanwhile, Mojisola Adeyeye, director-general, National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), says Nigerians must look inwards to find solutions to the country’s challenges.
In an interview with NAN, she said while Madagascar had tried to tackle the challenge, Nigeria is still struggling.
Adeyeye said the country depends on the western world for solution to its challenges, saying things have to be done differently.
She added that it is a pity that “Nigeria had been a slave to China and India” in terms of drug reliance.
“Madagascar has done it. They have looked inward and came up with herbs; Nigeria has over relied on the white for everything,” she said.
“Some of us claim to love this country, but we do not. We have good weather, good environment, natural resources, but we are not making good use of them.
“We are proud of them (Madagascar). They appreciate what they have. We do not. All the herbs they have and are using, we have them. But we do not use them the way they are doing.
“They appreciate their brains and use them. We must do same here if we want to develop as a nation.”
Adeyeye said that the novel coronavirus had jolted the country, and challenged those in authority to make the health sector a major priority.
“COVID-19 has slapped us in the face. It has kicked us back and front. We are now facing the stark realities of being insecure,” she said.
“There is drug insecurity, medical devices insecurity, test kits insecurity; we have always depended on other nations for everything.
”India, for instance, is not supplying medicals to us again because they are thinking about their own people. We have been using Dogonyaro (Neem tree) for ages. Some other African countries have developed their herbal remedies.
“Which one can we claim to have developed in Nigeria? What we are looking for in Madagascar, we may have it in our backyard.”
She said it is time for Nigerians to make use of their talents by looking inward and coming up with something.
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