In concluding this three-part series, attention is focused on the full mandates of the PTF on COVID-19 and its functional areas for us to be able to appreciate the enormity of the tasks confronting the body in addressing the challenges of Nigeria’s historically-rooted weak health system. In the first part of the article, the three overarching objectives of PTF were listed, and few as they are, they encompass a long list of mandates the Task Force has to discharge. In actual fact, the second part underscored the enormity of intellectual and physical exertion required to discharge the mandates. What then are these long lists of mandates?
The first of the seven broad list of mandates of the Task Force is to ‘provide overall policy direction, guidance, and continuous support to the National Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the NCDC, and other Ministries and Government Agencies involved in response activities, and ensure their coordination towards a single set of national strategic objectives’.
The second is to ‘enable the delivery of national and state-level outbreak control priorities which include’: (a) ‘Effective and safe treatment centres to ensure capacity to manage outbreaks’; (b) ‘Coordination of National and State Emergency Operation Centres’; (c) ‘Response commodities for case management, infection prevention and control, diagnostics, etc’; (d) ‘Sensitisation and awareness campaigns for the general public on prevention measures and response activities’; and (e) ‘Diagnostic laboratories and deployment strategies’.
The third is to ‘review and make approval recommendations for implementing country-wide or regional non-pharmaceutical interventions if and when needed; such as school closures, suspension of large gatherings, implementation of social distancing, flight limitations etc’.
The fourth is to ‘provide recommendations for the provision of direct funding and technical support to states and local governments to strengthen their preparedness capacity and mobilise human, material and financial resources from within and outside the country for effective national and state-level preparedness’.
The fifth is to ‘define targets and monitor the progress in the delivery of these targets to meet the minimum requirements for a satisfactory performance and use this to advise the Presidency on the overall national response to COVID-19’.
The sixth is to ‘coordinate Nigeria’s engagement with other countries’ bilateral and multilateral bodies, international organisations to share lessons, best practices, and technical assistance’; and
The last, is to ‘keep the public abreast of strategic progress with Nigeria’s response, and emerging developments regarding preparedness and response’.
Both the three over-arching objectives and the seven mandates of the PTF are implemented through the following eleven functional areas: (1) PTF National Pandemic Response Center (NPRC) Coordination; (2) Epidemiology & Surveillance; (3) Risk Communication & Community Engagement; (4) Laboratory; (5) Security, Logistics & Mass Care; (6) Points of Entry; (7) Resource Mobilization; (8) Infection, Prevention & Control; (9) Research; (10) Case Management; and lastly (11) Finance Monitoring & Compliance.
With respect to the assessment of the PTF, it will be preposterous on my part to claim to carry out any meaningful and objective assessment of the performance of the PTF against the background of these omnibus mandates and functional areas. Any attempt to do such would actually require extensive and methodologically rooted investigation which a short article of this nature, cannot really achieve in a convincing manner. It will suffice to make some helpful observations.
As noted in the previous parts of this article, the PTF is a well-scalable outfit with working groups whose organizational roots of operations, remain the parent relevant bureaucratic organizations across the Ministries, Agencies and Departments (MDAs). For example, for the PTF to carry out activities in functional areas such as research or laboratory or epidemiology & surveillance, it will necessarily rely on subsisting health ministry and its parastatals. The Task Force no doubt can coordinate such activities to ensure compliance with national standards, but the actual technical tasks are executed at such bureaucratic institutions. This can create bureaucratic bottlenecks on organisational effectiveness of PTF. Here comes a coordination challenge for the PTF. Consequently, in addition to the bureaucratic ills of fatigue and lethargy pointed out in the earlier parts of the article, a major challenge to watch out for, is in the area of coordination because Nigeria has a large bureaucracy at both the federal and sub-national levels.
One notable promise made to Nigerians by the Chairman of the PTF COVID-19 Mr. Boss Mustapha, is that ‘Nigerian health sector would not remain the same post COVID-19, as all measures would be taken to improve the sector’ (see https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/04/nigerias-health-sector-will-not-remain-same-post-covid-19-boss-mustapha/). Again he assured rightly, that the PTF is adopting a strategic approach in discharging its mandates, particularly in utilizing available funds towards strengthening the health infrastructure across the country. If the Task Force is able to achieve this, history will remember its Chairman as a successful ‘War General’ who fought against this ravaging COVID-19 war.
It is fitting here to commend the PTF and other health bodies (Federal Ministry of Health, NCDC, WHO etc) for their remarkable demonstration of rare courage and professionalism in the current war against COVID-19 in Kano State. I had in an earlier article (see https://sundiatapost.com/covid-19-pandemic-and-the-kano-state-debacle-by-isaac-n-obasi/) joined the voices of Prof. Usman Yusuf (former Executive Secretary of National Health Insurance Scheme), and former Governor of Kano State Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to debunk the claim in Kano official quarters that the so-called ‘mysterious deaths’ were not COVID-19-related. The PTF has done creditably well in this COVID-19 war in Kano and I hereby urge it not to rest on its oars.
One knock the PTF got from the public so far, was the violation of Section 1 (Bullet point 3) of its April 1, 2020 Guidance on the Implementation of the Federal Government’s Lockdown Policy (Lagos, Ogun and FCT), which the Task Force itself issued. This violation was at the burial of Mal. Abba Kyari, the Chief of Staff to President Buhari. The Chairman of the Task Force had apologized to the nation and for us here this matter is now well behind us since the Task Force has been working very hard to discharge onerous duties. Its regular briefings have been commendable and all one can wish it is good luck and providential strength to soldier on, in this deadly war against COVID-19 pandemic.
Prof. Obasi, a public policy expert (& former columnist in the Daily Trust, Abuja, March 2003 to October 2006, & Daily Champion, Lagos, April 2005 to December 2008), is of the Department of Public Administration, University of Abuja. Email: nnamdizik@gmail.com
