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The Federal Government has said it has secured funding for the hotel and feeding expenses of Nigerian evacuees while on compulsory 14-day isolation in Nigeria.
This was revealed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama during the Presidential Task Force briefing on Monday.
TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) reports that the federal government had last week unveiled a new policy that requires Nigerians stranded abroad to offset their two-week quarantine bill as a prerequisite for possible evacuation.
Before now, the returnees were only required to pay for their flight while the government took care of their two weeks stay in isolation.
The government said it imposed the fees “due to measures that are beyond the control of COVID-19 local organizing team.”
The new directive was revealed in a letter to the evacuees signed by the Head of Chancery, Nigerian Mission in Thailand, Nicholas Uhomoibhi, and dated May 14, 2020.
However, the announcement did not go down with Nigerians who insisted that government must fund the hotel and feeding bills of the evacuees while in isolation.
In what appears like a total submissiveness to the demand of Nigerians, the minister said he discussed with his colleague in Ministry of Environment, Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar who suggested that the ministry partner with Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) because they have corporate and social responsibility.
Onyeama said the governor of CBN, Godwin Emefiele agreed to help but also sounded a note of concern that the amount that will be needed to cater for the Nigerian evacuees will be over a billion naira considering there are over 4,000 Nigerians that need to be evacuated.
Emefiele according to the minister of foreign affairs said he was ready to share the cost with the NNPC to ensure something is done about the situation.
The minister also noted the General Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari, promised to partner with the CBN governor to fund the accommodation and feeding of the returnees.