‘Why Buhari was appointed Champion of COVID-19’

By Ezurike Ugochukwu

Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States under the aegis of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of States and Governments have appointed President Muhammadu Buhari to coordinate the COVID-19 response in the sub-region for some obvious reasons.

Buhari at the teleconference summit which he  participated from Abuja, and was chaired by President of the Republic of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou, where he was appointed as Champion of the COVID-19 response.

According to the release from, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, it stated that during the meeting, Buhari admonished fellow ECOWAS leaders to look beyond the threat posed by COVID-19 pandemic and explore other opportunities presented by the outbreak to ameliorate the living standard of people in member states.

“In every challenging situation such as the current one, there are also opportunities. Our region must therefore seek to find those opportunities provided by this gloomy global outlook for its benefit by embarking on the implementation of such critical policies, which before now, will be difficult to accept,” he stated.

Adesina said  Buhari further appealed to other heads of states  to close  ranks,  share experiences and best practices, to find  a way of saving the region from this deadly pandemic.

Buhari he said  also outlined some measures taken by his government so far in response to the pandemic, “The reduction of interest rates on all applicable Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) interventions from 9 to 5 percent and introduction of a one- year moratorium on CBN intervention facilities;

“The inauguration of Presidential Task Force to coordinate national efforts to combat the spread of the virus and ensure efficiency and effectiveness in line with the Nigerian Action Plan on Health Security;

“The provision of relief materials including medical and food supplies as well as conditional cash transfers of N20,000 each for poor and vulnerable households and the establishment of more isolation centers and testing facilities to contain the spread of the virus.”

Adesina also said Buhari further remarked that unprecedented economic uncertainties, such as severe fiscal and foreign exchange constraints, in the face of slow global economic growth currently confronting several nations had made it necessary  for “our sub-region to refocus on accelerating the implementation of our popular vision of ‘ECOWAS of the people’ by adopting dynamic regional policies aimed at providing relief to our citizens.”

He emphasised the president as having said, “despite declining revenues, government continues to spend massively on the containment of the virus, medical care for those infected and minimising impact of the crisis on the poor and vulnerable,” adding: “This situation puts severe pressure on our finances by increasing our expenditures amid dwindling revenues. This invariably has led to a restructuring and reduction of our budget.”

According to the statement, Buhari used the opportunity of the forum to rally other leaders to embrace agriculture, technology, innovation, and also create jobs and reduce poverty to enable West African economies emerge stronger in the committee of nations.

Buhari as the leader of the most populous black country in the world was elected to champion this all important global affront in the West African sub region according to Adesina was  because, “All the other Presidents will be available to support President Buhari,” Adesina said.