On Tuesday 30 June 2020, the RSS Nigeria local group gave a talk on 'Modelling Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria' to the general public at the Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu, Lagos State, Nigeria.
The programme, which was moderated by Dr Olatunji T Arowolo - chairman, public and inaugural lecture committee, Lagos State Polytechnic - started about 12pm. Mr Olumide O Metilelu, rector, Lagos State Polytechnic, welcomed the attendees and urged them to pay rapt attention to the lectures as it has to do with current challenges facing the entire universe.
The first speaker, Dr OM Olayiwola (pictured), the chairman of RSS Nigeria local group and head of the Department of Statistics, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, discussed Modelling of COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. He emphasised:
- Reproduction rate of COVID-19; roles of Nigeria centre for disease control(NCDC) in Covid-19 carrier contact tracing
- Existing models for modelling Covid-19 and justified why his newly proposed model is appropriate to determine total number of COVID-19 carriers in Nigeria
- Application of the model he developed to estimate Covid-19 carriers in Nigeria.
He also recommended the involvement of statisticians in the NCDC team for tracing Covid-19 carrier within the population.
The second speaker, Dr Oluwatosin Akinsola, lecturer, epidemiology & biostatistics, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, discussed the implication of the developed model in Lagos State.
The lecture was graced by over 300 attendees from various ministries, universities and polytechnics.