AFRICA’S GOVERNANCE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 | PRELIMINARY REPORT 2020 Box 7: Production of ventilators in Nigeria Nigeria At the regional level, President Muhammadu Buhari, president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was designated to champion the ECOWAS regional coordination of the COVID-19 response. At the national level, Nigeria has implemented a vast array of initiatives to contain the spread of Covid 19, including the constitution and inauguration of the Taskforce Committee on COVID -19 to coordinate national efforts to combat the spread of the virus and ensure efficiency and effectiveness in line with the Nigerian Action Plan on Health Security. The establishment of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is a commendable practice in Nigeria’s response infrastructure. The NCDC was mandated to lead the prevention, detection and response to infectious disease outbreaks and public health threats, and to maintain a network of specialized and reference laboratories for pathogen detection, disease surveillance and outbreak response. The establishment of multi-sectoral National Emergency Operation Centres (EOC) to coordinate the National response activities, the production of face masks by local textile industries and local ventilators as well as disease dictator machines by ministry of science and technology strengthened the country’s response to the pandemic. 46