The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has said the state is boosting its capacity to respond to emergencies with the training of medical first responders.

The governor said this during a courtesy visit by the Director General (DG) of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Air Vice Marshall (AVM) Rtd. Muhammadu Muhammed, who was in the state to flag off the Emergency Agricultural Intervention Funds programme for Persons affected by flooding.

NEMA also donated palliatives to 64,613 households in the state to cushion the economic effect of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Governor Obaseki noted that emergency response is imperative to the government’s plans to protect the people, adding that the state is training medical first responders to help in medical responses as the state has set up help lines to facilitate rescue operations.

He said, “Training and capacity building for response is as important as the items you gave us.”

Obaseki expressed appreciation to NEMA for the donation of palliatives to 64,613 households in the state, noting that the agency has maintained cordial relations with Edo State and responding to its requests over the years in dealing with emergencies.

He said, “We are partners in progress and we appreciate this gesture of palliatives to support the most vulnerable in our society, particularly those affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“We have a very transparent community engagement process that helps us identify the most vulnerable in our society. It is these people we will reach out to with these items. It is done in cooperation with religious bodies, community leaders who help in identifying those who suffered the most. I want to assure you that the palliatives will get to the proposed 64,613 households.”

Earlier, the DG of NEMA said he is in the state on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari to present assorted grains from the National Food Reserve approved as palliatives for distribution to vulnerable persons affected by the impact of restriction of movement to check the spread of COVID-19.

He said, “The food items allocated to Edo State are 323.29 metric tons of maize (11 trailer loads) and 156.51 metric tonnes of Garri (6 trailer loads). These palliatives are expected to cater for 64, 613 households. We are distributing fertilisers to farmers that were affected by flood in 2018.

“This special intervention comprises six seedlings, agro-chemicals, sprayers and fertilisers. The intervention was approved in 2019 as the implementation commenced with verification of affected farmers followed by distribution of farm inputs and seedlings.”

“After verification, 3,185 farmers were given various farm inputs including seeds, seedlings and agro-chemical. The total quantity of fertilisers required after verification of farmers was 37, 200 bags of 50kg,” the DG added.

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