Sanwo-Olu declares frontline health workers as face of his 1st year anniversary

By Oziegbe Okoeki

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Friday said the frontline health workers are the heroes of the states’ battle against the COVID-19 pandemic and thus declared them as the “face of our 1st Year Anniversary celebration”.

Sanwo-Olu stated this in a speech he delivered in honor of frontline health workers in commemoration of his administration’s one year in office held at the Lagos House, Marina.

Sanwo-Olu said the gesture is to personally demonstrate his gratitude to the health workers and to boost their morale because “they are the real “heroes” of our battle against the pandemic and have contributed immensely to the success of his administration in the past one year.

“Dear brothers and sisters, we hold you dearly and profoundly appreciate your selfless service to the State and the good people of Lagos.

“This is our modest way of saying thank you for your sacrificial service, this is our little way of expressing our heart-felt gratitude to you; you deserve this and more.

“We sincerely hope you will even be further motivated to renew your resolve to fight this pandemic with renewed vigour and commitment”, the governor said.

Sanwo-Olu said in appreciation of the frontline health workers and as motivation the state had earlier given them a bumper health insurance cover of N5billion and also raised their hazard allowance by 400 per cent.

“As ample as this might seem, it still does not measure up to the sacrifice of these gallant heroes, in view of their daily hazardous exposure to the highly contagious disease.

“Similarly, we identified the need to lift the spirits of these caregivers with melodious musical tunes. Thus, we arranged for a special appearance of Beejay Sax, one of the top-notch saxophonists in the country, at the Infectious Disease Hospital, IDH, Yaba, last Easter Sunday. It was meant to serenade these patriotic caregivers and unburden their souls of all forms of fear and anxiety while they were away from their respective families on a delicate assignment.

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“As I had noted on that occasion, they deserved to sit in the midst of their family members and feast during that festive period, but the Coronavirus pandemic robbed them of the fun of Easter celebration,” Sanwo-Olu said

He reminded the healthier workers that the battle is not over yet because the enemy has not given up. ‘Therefore, we need you more than ever before to redouble your efforts in the onslaught against this common adversary.

Sanwo-Olu also reminded Lagosians that this is not the time to relax or to slow down in the efforts to break the chain of transmission of the deadly pandemic.

“We are still very much in the battlefront, but we are assured of a resounding victory with the unflinching support of our noble frontline health workers and everyone in the State,” he said