The Federal government on Thursday slipped on banana skin following tweets by persons connected to it, asking American-Canadian billionaire, Elon Musk, to gift Nigeria some ventilators in the on-going onslaught against the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have extra FDA-approved ventilators. Will ship to hospitals worldwide within Tesla delivery regions. Device & shipping cost are free. Only requirement is the vents are needed immediately for patients, not stored in a warehouse. Please me or @Tesla know,” Musk had tweeted on Tuesday.
His tweet drew reactions with many making requests including the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning via a tweet on Wednesday, which read: “Dear @elonmusk @Tesla Federal Government of Nigeria needs support with 100-500 ventilators to assist with #Covid19 cases arising every day in Nigeria.”
However, on Thursday the ministry brought down its tweet and issued a statement wherein it regretted the unofficial manner it made the request.
But the President’s Personal Assistant on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, who also appealed to Musk took a different path.
Ahmad refused to delete his tweet and instead re-tweeted similar pleas.
His tweet: “Hello Elon, I woke up to this your tweet all over the timeline, in this period of worldwide emergency getting ventilators is pretty hard no matter how much money you get, and that’s understandable! Nigeria, my dear country is in need. Kindly send 100s here, we really need them, thanks!”
