Mr. Paul M. Gbededo is the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Flour Mills Nigeria Plc. In this interview, he explains the strategic initiative and critical response plan of the company to support the various governments and private sector's initiatives to combat the Coronavirus pandemic in the country, among other issues.

How has FMN played a role in the private sector fight against COVID-19?

For a company like ours that shares such a rich history with Nigeria spanning about 60 years, we understand that these are challenging times. Nonetheless, we are positive that with continued collaboration across the board, we can flatten the curve and conquer the pandemic in Nigeria, Africa and all over the world.

Understanding the importance of food during such a period, we implemented a stringent safety protocol at all our offices and factories to ensure that our supply chain remains unhindered and our staff can continue to produce food safely. This is because we are committed to ensuring that we meet the needs of Nigerian families for healthy and nutritious food.

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FMN also contributed N1billion to the Nigerian Private Sector Coalition Against Coronavirus (CACOVID) through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the fight against the virus.

In addition to the cash donation, we recently procured medical supplies worth about USD 1.5 million. We are of the firm belief that there is an urgent need to immediately improve our testing capacity in the country to ensure that the virus does not continue to gain grounds. As such, we hope that the medical supplies which include COVID-19 testing kits, ventilators and Personal Protective Equipment PPE will rapidly beef up Nigeria's testing capacity for the virus and give us a fighting chance at such a tough time. The medical supplies will facilitate: 100/day field-testing capacity, 35,000 laboratory-based testing capacities, and provide about 331,000 pieces of PPE, including N95 masks, coveralls, protective gloves, and protective eyewear. This, we expect, would provide regular use for about 10,000 Nigerian health care professionals over two months. This medical equipment will provide the much-needed support to medical emergency workers across the country, who are selflessly working to ensure that Nigeria can slow down the transmission rate of the virus and save lives. In the next couple of days, we would have completed the distribution of the medical equipment to NCDC and its lab networks across the country. FMN also initiated a food donation drive across the country. We have so far successfully donated food relief items worth over N400,000,000 (Four Hundred Million Naira) to 12 states across the country, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The donations were targeted at helping the most vulnerable people in the country following the nationwide lockdown intended to contain the spread of the fatal COVID-19 virus.

What's the total amount FMN is spending towards strengthening Nigeria's capacity to fight the pandemic?

As at today, FMN has expended over N2billion in the fight towards curbing the spread of the Coronavirus. This includes the cash donation of N1billion through CACOVID, medical and pharmaceuticals, and of course the food donations made across the country. And we are committed to doing even more. As a proudly Nigerian company, the safety and welfare of Nigerians are paramount to us at this time. These contributions are our way of saying 'WE CARE!' We have been with Nigerians through good times and challenging times, and we are committed to sticking with our Nigerian people for even many years to come.

Could you give us an insight into how your company, as a private entity, was able to achieve the procurement and logistics of the medical supplies it donated?

This initiative was spearheaded by the inspired thinking of the Group Chairman Mr John Coumantaros. Seeing the global trend of the pandemic, he immediately charged the Management of the group to assemble a formidable team to start sourcing globally for medical supplies. This way, we were able to get ahead of the situation and leverage the strength of our global supply chain. As expected, the planning process had the support and full backing of the leadership of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), and the Presidential task for COVID-19. We also worked closely with other government agencies, technical advisers, vendors from about five nations, multiple logistics partners, and an inspired team from FMN's operational leadership that worked tirelessly to ensure this was possible. Our focus was in three key areas - Testing kits, Ventilators and Personal Protection Equipment. Despite significant challenges due to the global restrictions on medical supply procurement, limited stock, transport restriction, we remained resolute in our race to help Nigeria manage and flatten the curve. At this point, I must thank and commend the Federal government, the NCDC and all the other agencies that made this happen.

What countries did you source the medical supplies from?

The medical supplies were mainly sourced from Dubai, United States, Canada, Greece and China.

Can you tell us how you have been distributing the test kits and other medical supplies procured?

Our main goal was to distribute to all established and dedicated testing laboratories across the nation and also to ensure we distribute to states where the pandemic situation is quite acute. As such, we worked with the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) through their established distribution network to make sure these goals were achieved. The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) received a total of 13,000 test kits delivered to NCDC's National Reference Laboratory in Gaduwa and its Defense Reference Laboratory. A total of 10,000 kits were delivered to Lagos state with 3,000 going to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, 3,000 to 54 Gene Research, 2,000 to the Nigerian Institute for Medical Research and 2,000 to the Lagos Biobank Laboratory.

In Kano State, 5,000 kits were distributed to the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital and the Bayero University, Kano. The State was also given a 'Lab in A Box' mobile testing kit to be used for rapid testing in remote locations. Kaduna State received 1,500 kits which were delivered to the DNA Laboratory while the Irrua Teaching Hospital in Edo State received 1,000 kits. Oyo State University College Hospital (UCH) Virology Laboratory got 2,000 kits while the African Center for Genomics of Infectious Disease at the Redeemers University in Osun State received 1,000 kits. We also distributed 75 Ventilators to Hospitals in Lagos, Abuja and Kano, especially where the number of cases was quite severe. We also distributed 331,000 PPEs which we expect would cater to 10,000 frontline medical workers across the nation for the next two months.

Kano and some other Northern states are facing enormous challenges in their efforts to stop the spread of the virus. Have you provided any specific support to these states?

Yes, we have. Our critical response and action plan for COVID-19 is targeted at the country as a whole. We ensured that States, such as Kano where the pandemic situation is quite severe, was a top priority in our distribution chain for the medical relief program. We were able to intervene and deliver testing kits to these states in the wake of the rising numbers of cases. In addition to this, the states received palliatives in terms of food products to support communities that are worse hit by the pandemic and the consequential lockdown.

Have you been able to evaluate the impact of your COVID-19 food distribution programme on beneficiaries?

We are already working with the States at different levels to ensure that the food donations achieve the desired impact. We have the assurances from the State governments that the essential food items that were donated will be equitably distributed and we will continue to monitor the progress of the distribution process accordingly.

How do you think the virus will affect food production and food prices?

It is our belief that the impact of the pandemic on global economies would be severe, going by the worldwide trend of events. Expectedly, the restriction of movement and other measures introduced to curb the spread of the virus will take its toll on the productive sectors like agriculture, manufacturing and the service sectors. The slowdown of the global economy necessitated by the lockdown in most countries has already had some severe impacts on global oil trade, with oil prices falling to unprecedented levels. The impact on the demand for forex will only mean that industries will continue to face tough times.

© Pakistan Press International, source Asianet-Pakistan