In a bid to cushion the effects of coronavirus, the Imo State Government has directed relaxation of lockdown of major markets and approved soft loans for traders and small business owners.
He enjoined the leadership of the group to compile the list of members, to make such gestures easier and constituted a committee comprising the Commissioner for Special Projects, Chairman, Board of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Special Adviser on IGR to monitor compliance of markets reopening.
Responding, Okere commended the state government for the opportunity and expressed gratitude to Governor Uzodinma for appointing some of them to sensitive positions such as the COVID-19 Containment Committee.
Besides, the state government offered scholarship to 15-year-old secondary school student, Miss Goodness Opara of Anara Community Secondary School, Isiala Mbano to any level for winning the maiden edition of the Year 2020 Shared Prosperity Secondary School Essay Competition.
During the event at Government House, Owerri, Governor Uzodinma also gave her a cash prize of N500, 000, while the first and second runners-up got N250, 000 each.
Meanwhile, to drive healthcare at the grassroots level, the state government distributed 27 ambulances to the 27 local councils of the state. Presenting the vehicles to chairmen of the Interim Management Committees (IMCs), yesterday, the Deputy Governor, Professor Placid Njoku, noted that health issues were priority to the administration, urging the council chiefs to use the vehicles judiciously, stressing, “Health is wealth.”
He tasked them to make health of their people their primary responsibility.Receiving the ambulances, Chairman state chapter of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Willie Okoliogwo, promised that the vehicles would be judiciously applied.
– The Guardian
