Use health facilities in Nigeria instead of going Oversees ----Clem Agba. By Besiru Enakhimion.

Dr. A.O imafidon of Uselu Psychiatric Hospital, talks to the Hon. Minister

The Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba has urged Nigerians who travel oversees to seek medical treatment, to look inward as there are well equipped medical facilities and well trained personnel in Nigeria to attend to their medical needs .

The Hon. Minister gave the advice at the end of the inspection of some sections of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital and the Psychiatric Hospital in Benin City, where intervention funds released by President Muhammadu Buhari led administration was spent .

"For Nigerians who keep running abroad, those who keep denigrating their country, they should know that we have all these equipment here in the country . We also have the right personnel .

"At least with the economic sustainability plan, we reached up to 52 federal tertiary health centres . In LUTH we also put a world class centre for cancer treatment and a lot of people keep rushing to India and Dubai .

"All the equipment are there and the personnel have been trained . So I am also using this opportunity to reach out to Nigerians to say , use our facilities here , our people are good and it is even cheaper . If you were to take away , just the cost of the flight and your accommodation , that's a huge cost ". He submitted.

At the UBTH, the Hon. Minister's team was received by a team led by the Chairman , UBTH Management Board, Bashorun Adedoja Adewolu (MFR) . Prof. Stanley Okungbo who was part of the team, stood in for the organization's Chief Medical Director .

Delivering his speech, Prince Agba said,

"During the advent of COVID, we came up with an economic sustainability plan with the budget size of 500 billion which we got from some special accounts and within that budget we thought that we should intervene in the federal tertiary institutions across the country in order to build that resilience in our health sector .

"You will recall that when the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID, the Secretary to the government of the federation, Boss Mustapha went round ,he said they didn't realize that the state of our health care had deteriorated so badly .

" So we thought that we should really intervene in these institutions . In 2020 I think there were, I will say two and a half molecular laboratories across the country, but today, the federal government can boast of 52 molecular laboratories across the country because we had intervention in those 52 federal medical centers and teaching hospitals ".

He said the sum of Nine hundred and fifty million naira (#950m) was made available to each of the 52 tertiary health centres in the country .

The one time Commissioner for Environment in Edo state, further said that the federal government made another intervention in 13 health centres in the country in 2023 . This intervention earned UBTH and the Irrua Specialist Hospital the sum of One billion naira each .

He added that an Eighteen million Dollars funding intervention support was made by the Japanese government in Seven health institutions in the country which also benefited UBTH and the Irrua Specialist Hospital .

In his response, the Chairman, UBTH Management Board , Bashorun Adedoja Adewolu, MFR, commended the President for his intervention in the health sector, declaring that, " President Muhammadu Buhari has done so much". He noted that the Minister's visit is unique and remarkable as it coincides with the organization's 50th anniversary celebration.

The Minister and members of his team later inspected the Intensive Care Unit, the Molecular diagnostic and Virology Laboratory, the Radiology and the Professor Jackson Omene Neonatal ward .

The Minister and members of his team also visited the Psychiatric hospital at Idunmwowina in Benin City . The team was received by the Managing Director of the organization, Dr. Agbonile O.Imafidon .

The visitors were led to various departments furnished with world class health equipment .

Dr Agbonile O. Imafidon described Prince Agba as a man who has passion for delivering service to the people .

" I am happy that having gone round , you have seen what we have been able to put on ground . And also for people to know that even though we are a psychiatric hospital primarily, like I mentioned our patients also have all the other conditions that you and I may develop .

"So that is one reason why we have put in place and I need to also put this on record that the federal government also grant us a budget to build a medical centre which is on ground , which is being built now . We already have a facility at Uselu site which is already delivering services . We have a labour ward that is now churning out babies ". He notified his visitors .

Dr. Imafidon thanked the Hon

Minister and President Muhammadu Buhari for the provision of funds .

The Minister's team later visited the Upper Erumse road in Evboutubu community in Benin to inspect an ongoing road rehabilitation project .

Prince Agba and his team had earlier in the day commissioned a road and a bridge at the Aden community axis of old Benin Shagamu road in Ovia South - West local government area .

The Aden bridge and the road which were formerly narrow and deplorable were dualized by the federal government at the cost of 1.2 billion naira .

Before the Federal government's intervention , the collapse of the bridge was said to have severed Aden community from other communities and adversely affected its economy too.

According to the minster, the Aden bridge is one of the various bridges in the country that the federal government has rehabilitated . Another one has also been fixed in Edo North , the Minister disclosed. He expressed happiness for the completion of the projects .

In his remark, the Youth Chairman of Aden Community , Mr. Malvis Noghaghese commended the government for the provision of the projects .

The inspection and commissioning of projects in Edo South by the Minister began in Ikoro and Agbomoba communities in Ovia North-East local government area . In Ikoro community, a market stores with specialized solar and standard toilets ,two Solar powered boreholes and solar powered street lights were commissioned .

Also commissioned by the Minister was a 19 kilometer Ikoro / Benin tared road which cuts across Ikoro, Obazuwa, Igo, Ikpala, Obagie and Ibien communities .

Speaking on behalf of the traditional ruler and the residents of Ikoro community, the Chairman of the community, Mr. Johnson Ikpewe thanked the Minister for the life changing projects that he had provided in the community . He said the provision of the projects is a real term rural transformation which will have direct impact on the lives of the rural people .

He appealed to the Hon. Minister to also extend his kind gesture to other Ijaw communities in Edo State . Mr Ikpewe also appealed for the provision of schools in the community.

As a sign of appreciation, he gave an inspiring Ijaw name to the minister , which is "EBIMIEWEI", meaning the one who usually does good .

At Agbomoba community, appreciation and happiness were literarily written on the faces of the residents as they, sang, danced and showered encomium on the Hon. Minister for the provision of a solar powered borehole .

According to Mrs. Omoregbe who spoke along with her husband, the residents had depended on water from the stream for consumption before the government's intervention .

She appealed to the federal government for the provision of a school in the community too .

While interacting with journalists, Prince Agba explained that the four projects that were inaugurated were handled by three federal government agencies .

According to him, the Rural Electricity Agency handled the street lighting, the Benin Owena River Basin Authority handled the water project, the Ministry of Agriculture , the rural development section handled the market, the lighting within the market and the toilet facilities .

He said the provision of the above projects in the community is in line with President Muhammadu Buhari's National Development plan for 2021 to 2025 .

The Minister noted that integrated rural development is an integral part of the national development plan .

He accused the states of being responsible for the 133 million multidimensional poor Nigerians, for depriving them of the necessary basic amenities.

" When we are talking about multidimensional poverty, we are looking at deprivation from school, that is access to education, access to water, access to health .

"We do believe that no child should go beyond two or three kilometers to be able to access a school . We believe no one should go beyond two or three kilometers to access medical facilities .

Prince Agba charged the state governors to extend development to the rural areas, by providing them with the necessary amenities, so as to alleviate their sufferings .

He explained that the mission of the federal government on the rural roads is to creat access to the market for the farmers , to boost their business.