The Nigeria Solidarity Support Fund (NSSF) is partnering Global Citizen Nigeria to call on world leaders, corporate organisations and foundations to address the issue of COVID-19 vaccine inequity and vaccine hesitancy.
The Vice-Chairman of Global Citizen Nigeria, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, made this known in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos.
Aig-Imoukhuede said that the advocacy would take place at the Global Citizen Live event, a historic 24-Hour Broadcast spanning six continents.
It would be aired across ABC News Live, BBC, FX, iHeartRadio, Hulu, YouTube, TIME, Twitter, and more on Sept. 25, 2021.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NSSF is an innovative platform for resource mobilisation primarily created to complement government’s efforts to mitigating the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Nigerians.
“The fund set its strategic priority for 2021/2022 to ensure that one million Nigerians are vaccinated against COVID-19 .
“The fund is, therefore, proudly partnering with Global Citizen to amplify this call on global organisations and world leaders to address the issues of equitable distribution of vaccine and education about Covid-19 with the urgency it deserves.
“There is only one way of dealing with this pandemic, which is the vaccines.
“And to get the type of herd immunity that makes a nation safe, there is a minimum percentage of the population that needs to be covered, typically well above 60 per cent.
“In Nigeria, we are way below that with only about one per cent of the populace having received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines.
“Considering the scary statistics and the need to act fast to save lives, we are putting necessary mechanisms in place to enable us mobilise the required resources to get at least one million Nigerians vaccinated before the end of 2022,” Aig-Imoukhuede said.
He explained further that the Global Citizen Live event would provide platform for artistes to help rally citizens in demanding that governments, major corporations, and philanthropists work together to defeat poverty and defend the planet.
He added that focus would be on the most urgent, interrelated threats hitting those in poverty the hardest, which includes – climate change, vaccine equity, and famine.
According to him, the event will be coinciding with the UN General Assembly meeting in September and before the G20 Meeting in October and COP26 Meeting in November 2021.
These events focus on interconnected issues: vaccine equity, climate change, and famine. (NAN)
