Total donates vans to Ebola operation centre

 

AUGUST 27, 2014 BY SOLAADE AYO-ADERELE 2 COMMENTS

 

Total Companies in Nigeria, comprising the downstream and upstream branches, have joined the fight against Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria, with the donation of five brand new Ford Pick-up vans and electronic fuelling cards to the Ebola Emergency Operation Centre, Yaba, Lagos.

The donation was part of the company’s initiative to support the Federal Government’s effort at curbing the spread of the disease in the country.

The Deputy Managing Director, Mr. Charles Ngoka, who represented the Managing Director of Total E&P Nigeria Limited, Mrs. Elisabeth Proust, said as corporate citizens, the Total Companies in Nigeria had opted to be part of the efforts to fight EVD.

“This prompted the companies to send representations to this centre earlier this month. The recommendations submitted necessitated the decision to do something urgently.

“This is why the Total Companies in Nigeria decided to provide these vehicles as a means of mobility for this centre because of the obvious need to transport cases from wherever they are in this vast state to the centre and back to their homes after treatment,” Ngoka noted.

The Managing Director, Total Nigeria Plc, Mr. Alexis Vovk, disclosed that with the electronic fuel cards, the centre could refuel the vehicles at any Total filling station nationwide.

In response, the Project Director of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Prof. Abdulsalami Nasidi, thanked Total Upstream Companies in Nigeria for the donation.

He said the pick-up vans would enhance their movement and speed of response to investigating suspected cases of infection before isolation.

Nasidi said, “I’m pleased to receive these brand new vehicles on behalf of the Federal Government. I thank Total Companies in Nigeria for this kind gesture, which comes at a time we are facing a national emergency on the Ebola Virus. “Before now, we have had to rely on hiring taxis and deploying private vehicles, with the attendant impact on our activities. We will put the vehicles to good use to improve our operations.”

He also called on other corporate organisations to emulate Total by supporting the Ebola Emergency Operation Centre and efforts to eradicate the contagious disease from Nigeria.