With the global demand for ventilators soaring is there any reason why Nigeria should not become the world’s largest supplier?

By Ayo Akinfe

(1) Covid-19 does not have a cure yet, so if you are having breathing difficulties, what the medics do is they put you on a ventilator until your lungs clear. It is thus no surprise why the global demand for ventilators has soared

(2) Demand for ventilators exceeds supply, which is why in the UK for instance, unless you are having breathing difficulties, you will be told to just go home and self-isolate. Basically, treatment is only for those who are having problems with breathing

(3) I saw one picture of some of the casualties in Italy and it was scary. Virtually, the entire residents of an old peoples home died because they all struggled to breath. Had there been enough ventilators on hand, we would have saved many of them

(4) Yesterday, Matt Hancock, the British health secretary, revealed that the NHS only has 9,000 ventilators nationwide and the government’s plans are to double this to 18,000 over the next few weeks

(5) To achieve this goal, Britain is encouraging manufacturers of other industrial products to switch up ventilator production, while at the same time looking to ramp up imports

(6) However, the problem with imports is that no country in the world has enough ventilators to sell to anyone. Governments everywhere are imposing restrictions on the export of medical equipment because the domestic health industry needs everything that can be produced

(7) In Nigeria, we have been thrown a lifeline with Innoson Motors saying that if the CBN gives it a $10m loan, it can reconfigure its Nnewi plant to start manufacturing ventilators. For me, this has got to be our major national priority as part of the global fight back against coronavirus

(8) All hands should be on deck to not only support Innoson but also get other manufacturers to produce ventilators. For instance, can we not reconfigure the Ajaokuta Steel Plant and turn it into a ventilator factory? Can we not add a ventilator production line to Dangote’s Lekki refinery?

(9) Our NNPC has three refineries in Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna. Are we even thinking about reconfiguring then to meet this global surge in demand? Even after Covid-19, there will still be a demand for ventilators

(10) Maybe I am just too ambitious with my thinking but I am asking myself why Nigeria should not seize this opportunity to become the world’s largest manufacturer of ventilators