FG agency, NABDA donates labs for COVID-19 tests, produces hand sanitisers

The National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA)) has donated its laboratories in Abuja and Odi, Bayelsa, for more tests to be conducted.

The agency also said it has produced hand sanitisers to support government efforts at fighting Coronavirus (COVID-19)) pandemic in the country.

The Director-General of NABDA, Prof. Alex Akpa,
disclosing this in an interview on Monday in Abuja said the two molecular diagnostic laboratories made available in the two centres of Abuja and Odi have sophisticated equipments like Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRt-PCR), sequencers among others.

Prof. Alex Akpa said
both laboratories are state of the art and recently well furnished with equipments required for the molecular diagnostics of COVID-19.

Akpa, who said NABDA had a very important and strategic role to play in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, also disclosed that the agency produces bioethanol based hand sanitisers.

He explained that these hand sanitisers were based on the use of bioethanol which made them completely indigenous as it comes from two sources; cassava and sugarcane,’’.

He said the agency usually purchased the cassava predominantly from the southern part of the country, and they presently have bioethanol facilities in Owode, Ogbomosho and Akoka.

He further said that in Odi, they also have a plant that produces bioethanol using sugarcane which is produced massively in the northern part of the country.

According to Akpa, “Nigeria is one of the largest producers of cassava in the world, so harnessing these two natural products would create hundreds of thousands of jobs”.