The Federal Government has called on American automotive and energy company, Tesla Inc to support Nigeria with Ventilators for the treatment of coronavirus patients in the country.
This call for support was made by the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning in response to a post made by the Chief Executive Officer of Tesla Inc, Elon Musk on Twitter.
Musk had announced that the company had extra ventilators available for shipping worldwide and that anyone who needed should let him or the auto company know so as to have it delivered for free.
“We have extra FDA-approved ventilators. Will ship to hospitals worldwide within Tesla delivery regions. Device & shipping cost are free. Only requirement is that the vents are needed immediately for patients, not stored in a warehouse. Please let me or @Tesla know,” the tweet read.
[READ MORE: NDDC shuts operations, earmarks N1 billion for states to combat coronavirus)
The Federal Government then responded saying that Nigeria needed about 100-500 ventilators to assist with the rising cases of coronavirus in the country.
“Dear @elonmusk @Tesla, Federal Government of Nigeria needs support with 100-500 ventilators to assist with #Covid19 cases arising every day in Nigeria,” the Ministry of Finance posted.
Recall that Nairametrics had reported when Tesla’s CEO disclosed that the company’s Gigafactory located in New York would start producing and donating ventilators as part of its contribution towards the fight against the pandemic.
What you should know: It is pertinent to note that Nigeria has gotten quite a number of contributions and donations for the purpose of combating COVID-19 both locally and abroad.
Apart from donations from billionaires and corporate organizations, donations in terms of medical equipment and test kits have also been made by Alibaba’s Jack Ma and the Chinese government.
Reactions: As expected, Nigerians have reacted to the plea made by the Federal Government to Tesla, berating the government for not using the contributions gotten so far to purchase ventilators.
Are we that broke in this country?? All those billion Naira donations, wetin una dey take am do??
— Duke of Ibadan ?️ (@AsiwajuLerry) April 2, 2020
It would have been less shameful if u allow Teaching Hospitals to do this kind of bambiala. If it is to release money for official cars for politician , we wont hear anything here.
— Ayotunde (@Fatod09) April 2, 2020
However, Nigeria isn’t the only country requesting for ventilators from Tesla, as Ukraine’s Embassy in the USA also replied Elon Musk, asking for ventilators to be sent to Ukraine.
Dear Elon,
Ukraine?? is the second largest country in Europe with population nearly 40 mln citizens. The pandemic situation in Ukraine is approaching its peak, April is going to be the hardest. People in hospitals need ventilators. We are ready to cooperate! Dyakuyemo!— UKR Embassy in USA (@UKRintheUSA) April 1, 2020
