The North East Development Commission (NEDC) has donated food items and clothing materials worth millions to victims of flood in Gombe.

 No fewer than 13 lives and 50 houses were lost in flood incidents which ravaged Bajoga and Kaltungo local Government areas of the State.

The managing director of the commission Mohammed Alkali who presented the relief materials to the victims through the State Government explained that the items include; 10, 000 bags of rice, 3, 000 gallons of vegetable oil, 5, 000 pieces of blankets, 5, 000 pieces of mats, 5, 000 bundles of wrappers, 3, 000 bundles of cotton clothes and 3, 000 pieces of children wears.

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According to him, during the recent World Humanitarian Day in Maiduguri, the Borno State Capital, the commission made some pronouncements to support all the six states of the region in terms of palliatives through the Presidential Committee on Repatriation, Return and Resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

Alkali noted that the commission has since handed over that of Borno to Governor Babagana Umara Zulum and Yobe State to the Deputy Governor Idi Barde Gubana and now Gombe State.

Responding, Gombe Deputy Governor Manasseh Jatau promised that the items would reach those meant for. 

While thanking the NEDC for the gesture, the deputy governor appealed for more interventions from the commission to the state.

The Senate Committee on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) yesterday criticised the contractor handling Karshi-Ara and the extension of Karshi-Apo-Road, over failure to complete the project at the agreed time.

The Chairman of the committee, Smart Adeyemi, who led other members and the Ministers of the FCT on oversight function, said it was a shame for an indigenous construction company to betray the trust of the FCT Administration and the National Assembly, by awarding the contract to the firm.

The Apo-Karshi Road project was awarded to M/S Kakatar’ CE Big Limited in 2011; with a 20-month completion period.

He said the company had acknowledged the full funding of the project by the current FCT Administration, and there was no reason for the firm to depend on excuses instead of delivering the work as scheduled.

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Adeyemi regretted that a contract that was awarded in 2011 had not been completed for several years, which he described as a failure.

According to him, Apo-Karshi Road always appears in the FCT budget and was giving the Senate headache, which must be looked into.

He asked the contractor to appear before the Senate on Thursday next week for an explanation.

“If I submit the budget before the floor of the National Assembly, my colleagues will take me up on it, they will be asking questions and I don’t want to be confused. The Chief Site Engineer, Ezekiel Panam, who spoke on behalf of the Managing Director, said the delay in the project was due to the increase in the price of items.

According to him, the project was awarded in 2011 when the prices of materials were not high.

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a civil society organisation (CSO) yesterday urged the Federal Government to constitute the Governing Council of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA). This, it said, has become necessary because the functions and powers of the council are so critical and fundamental to the realisation of the new regime established in the NHIA Act.

It noted that, according to the Act, the powers of the Council are to approve and register for the Authority Third Party Administrators in any form; determine the overall policies, including the financial and operative procedures of the Authority; ensure the effective implementation of the policies and procedures of the Authority; regulate and supervise the various health insurances schemes established under the Act; and promote, oversee, collaborate and provide guidance to State Health Insurance Schemes.

Others are to issue guidelines for the administration and release of funds of the Authority; approve, license, regulate and supervise health maintenance organisations, mutual health associations and other institutions relating to the Authority as may be determined, among other critical functions of the Council.

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During the validation meeting of the policy on the full implementation of the NHIA Act, with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID-SCALE), in Abuja, the Lead Director of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), Eze Onyekpere, however, praised the establishment of the NHIA as a veritable tool to improve health outcomes, reduce catastrophic cost in accessing quality health care, protect the vulnerable groups, and ensure the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for all Nigerians.

He stated: “To deepen health insurance coverage, the Authority should actively engage in public awareness and education on the establishment and benefits of the new health insurance regime. Scaling up citizens’ sensitisation on the benefits of health insurance is an approach that possesses the potential of improving health insurance coverage across the federation. This would, in turn, edge Nigeria closer to attaining UHC.”

The Director-General of the NHIA, Prof. Mohammad Sambo, who was represented by the Deputy General Manager, Legal, Egharevba Joy said: “The passage of the NHIA Act by President Muhammadu Buhari on May 19, 2022, has spurred stakeholders to come up with strategic recommendations on the actualisation of the provision of the Act.

“The best highlight for us is the mandatory health insurance, which will engender the achievement of Universal Health Coverage.

“Also, 83 million Nigerians will benefit from health services from the vulnerable group fund (VGF).”

The Federal Government and the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), have expressed worries over the mass migration of Nigeria-trained health care professionals.

They noted that, while Nigeria has the third highest number of foreign doctors working in the United Kingdom after India and Pakistan, the country lost over 9,000 medical doctors to the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States of America between 2016 and 2018.

Also, 727 medical doctors trained in Nigeria relocated to the United Kingdom alone between December last year and May this year.

Furthermore, the data from the Register of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) of the UK shows that the number of Nigeria-trained nurses increased by 68.4 per cent from 2,790 in March 2017 to 7,256 in March 2022.

They, therefore, advocated the need to create a conducive environment for healthcare professionals to thrive in their profession, while other socio-economic aspects such as insecurity, poor remuneration and welfare, etc., are adequately addressed.

During a national symposium in Abuja anchored by the Partnership for Advancing Child and Family Health at Scale (PAS), a policy advocacy project implemented, through strategic partnerships by the development Research and Projects (dRPC) and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to address brain drain in the country, the President of the NMA, Dr Uche Ojinmah said: “As of now, Nigeria-trained doctors are leaving in droves for Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. No official figures yet, but it can’t be less than 2,000.

“It is sad to note that developing countries are confronted with the loss of their most valuable intellectuals and the investment in their education, to the benefit of developed nations.

“The brain drain is real. But it is worse as it pertains to medical residency (medical postgraduate clinical training) programmes in Nigeria because the trainers (specialists) and trainees/possible trainees (raw material) are being “drained” down to dregs.”

The Director-General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Prof. Ayo Omotayo, said: “There is a need for an improved health workers’ supply to tackle the supply deficit to solve the disease burden and positively turn the tide of health indicators.

“In addition, there is the need for our country to meet the 15 per cent allocation of the total domestic budget to the health sector as pledged by Nigeria and African countries in 2001.”

A group, Anya-Ndi-Igbo, has hailed the October 13 judgment of the Court of Appeal, which discharged and acquitted Nnamdi Kanu of treason charges.

It described the verdict as a boost in the quest to build “a united and great country based on the rule of law, mutual understanding and trust.”

In a statement signed by Elder Dr Uma Eleazu, OON, Chairman, Board of Directors; Chris Okoye, President, and Ikechukwu Amarachi, Chairman, Communication and Public Relations of the organisation, respectively, it urged the Federal Government to initiate a process of genuine reconciliation with aggrieved groups.

“We call on President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to seize this opportunity to initiate a process of genuine reconciliation, constructive engagement, mutual trust and harmony, not only with Nnamdi Kanu and his group but also with all other aggrieved groups across the country.

“The President must disregard any individual or group nudging him to sustain…antagonism and avoidable conflict,” the statement said.

It said the judiciary “has lived up to its billing as the last hope of the common man in this case, which had attracted the interest of the United Nations.”