An activist, Mr Laoye Sanda, on Tuesday urged African leaders to unanimously create a compendium of COVID-19 pandemic with an holistic view of global occurrences to educate younger generations.
Sanda made the plea at a public lecture organised by the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC) held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island, Lagos.
Sanda said this was quite important to keep history alive as school children needed to follow the path of learning.
“At this stage of the pandemic, we thank God for the minimal spread, I think African leaders must begin to think of having a compendium of the spread, where it began, the series of findings and all.
“This is quite important to ensure we keep history alive in the area of our health.
“The younger generations will have to study this; it will help them to easily proffer solutions to such kind of problem later on in life,” he said.
Sanda said African leaders must also come together to deal with common problems that became obvious due to the devastating effect of COVID-19 pandemic.
He said there should be increased funding for health sector, personnel training, equipment supply and research international collaborations between African states to be coordinated by the African Union Secretariat.
“Governments across Africa must ensure that all new funds and monetary promises made on the pandemic are properly invested in a value-for-money approach.
“It is time to think through the value chain of the health industry.
“The economic opportunities of this include jobs, enhanced income, taxation and general value added to the economy that will arise from improved investments and service delivery in the sector.
“We, as Africans, must work toward Universal Health Coverage, where no one is left behind,” he said.
Also, Dr Olusola Sokefun of Lagos State University, Ojo, Department of Zoology, appealed to African leaders to advance the cost of medicine to be adequately prepared for such kind of viral spread later.
Sokefun decried the poor standard of most Nigerian universities, urging Federal Government to enhance the capacity of those universities through adequate investment.
He encouraged Africans to patronise locally produced face masks and hand sanitisers to boost the economy of the continent rather than patronising foreign ones.
“It is disheartening to know that no research institute is working on finding a cure to COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria, rather we are focussed on intensive testing, this is not encouraging.
“Human capacity development is important at this critical period; virology is an aspect that needs to be developed with efficient man power.
“As Africans, this is the age of multi-nationalism where we must cooperate as Africans and get concerned about what happens next door.
“We, as Nigerians, must re-dedicate ourselves to the continent rather than condemning and eloping abroad in search of greener pastures; Nigeria is a great country with beautiful potential,” Sokefun said.
Also, Mrs Oluwabunmi Amao, CBAAC Director-General, said COVID-19 pandemic had disrupted lives globally, and triggered humanitarian and socioeconomic crisis.
Amao said this had continued to devastate societies, and even, reversed vital gains made in human development with massive impact on peace, security and human rights.
She, however, urged African leaders to look inwards for solutions to some of the challenges facing the continent due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Amao commended African countries in face of the devastating effect of the pandemic for showing leadership, both individually and collectively.
“At the continental level, the African Union has taken a number of initiatives to develop unified continent-wide strategies, which has seen member states coming together in solidarity to fight the disease.
“The mobilisation and cooperation among the AU member states in the wake of the pandemic is an indication of Africa’s real potential for transformation.
“We need more of this cooperation to recover fully,” she said.
