A youth volunteer group has flagged off a free face masks initiative tagged ‘Mask4AllNG’.
It distributed 5,000 free face masks to residents of Oko Oba, Orile Agege and its environs in Lagos last week.
Speaking at the flag off, the Strategic Team Lead, Mask4AllNG, Lanre Oyegbola, explained the initiative is a critical intervention to contain the coronavirus pandemic by providing vulnerable communities with free masks to protect themselves.
Oyegbola stated that Mask4AllNG is aimed at delivering one million free standard homemade face masks to vulnerable communities before the end of May 2020 and a four-month target of a total of 50 million face masks by the end of August 2020.
He stated with over 90 million poor people in Nigeria living on less than a dollar a day, face masks is a luxury, which informed why the Mask4AllNG becomes imperative to bridge the gap.
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“We came up with Mask4All as a social collaboration project that seeks to provide locally-produced WHO best global standards masks to the most vulnerable population in Nigeria. Through this process, we are empowering youths who are tailors to sew the mask and we distribute free,” he said.
He stated countries like the Czech Republic have demonstrated that lockdown measures, when complemented by mandatory wearing of face masks in public, is a very effective strategy for slowing the spread of the COVID-19.
Baale of Oko Oba, High Chief Josiah Balogun, commended the Mask4AllNG team for the laudable initiative.
He urged other well-meaning Nigerians to emulate the kind gesture.
The Baale urged beneficiaries to make good use of the masks to protect themselves and community as a whole.
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