Two days after its expected delivery, the medical supplies donated to the Federal Government by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma to assist the fight against Coronavirus has arrived.
The supplied arrived at the Muritala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos around 3:20 pm through an Ethiopian Airlines Freighter.
This is just as The Nation gathered that the supplies would be lifted by the C-130 logistics aircraft of the Nigerian AirForce for Abuja, where the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health is expected to receive them.
The donations came in barely 24 hours after the government lifted the ban on cargo flights from coming into the country.
The flight which left Guangzhou, China on Sunday, March 22, and stopped over at Addis Ababa in Ethiopia before proceeding to Lagos, was said to have loaded a large batch of medical supplies including 5.4 million fast masks, about 1.08million test kits, 40,000 sets of protective gears and 60,000 face shields donated to Africa by the Jack Ma and Alibaba Foundations.
Announcing the safe arrival of cargo, the airline said it was pleased to deliver the needed medical supplies and equipment to help in the global fight against COVID-19.
The airline’s General Manager Firihiewot Mekonnen said: “We appreciate the donation of the Jack Ma Foundation and the generosity of Jack Ma. We admire Abiy Ahmed, our Prime Minister, for his initiative and organization of the entire process.
“As an indigenous and pioneer Pan African airline, Ethiopian Airlines has stood together with Africans at all times for the last seven decades. Ethiopian Airlines has supported Africans in good and challenging times.
“In this unprecedented global pandemic, Ethiopian Airlines will continue its commitment for African people to help them fight and win this invisible enemy.
“Today, we are very happy to deliver these medical supplies to the Government and people of Nigeria. Ethiopian Airlines has always stood by Nigeria in times of good and bad. Since we started flying to Lagos we have not stopped our flights even when Abuja airport was closed we were the only international airline that flew to Kaduna.”
