Category: Uncategorized

By Kofoworola Belo-Osagie

The Lagos State government on Wednesday introduced the Eko Excellence in Child Education and Learning (EkoEXCEL) education programme to stakeholders in the education sector at the Anchor Event Centre, Agidingbi, Lagos.

Parents, school administrators, unions, quality assurance officers and others learnt that the EkoEXCEL would utilise technology to support teachers to improve their classroom delivery and monitor learners’ performance.

Speaking on the programme modelled after the EkoBest initiative for public school teachers in Edo State, Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, said tablets would be given to teachers as working tools that contain learning materials.  With the tablets, he said teachers could be monitored.

“The tablet is to assist us to monitor – because that tablet will be geo-referenced.  It will determine the coordinates of where you are.  So the moment you turn it on, as the head teacher or as somebody that is monitoring, you see the teacher is within so-so coordinates and what the teacher is teaching,” he said.

The Deputy Governor added that the tablet would enable teachers teach learners at their own pace.

He also said the tablet was designed to be durable and could last two weeks once fully charged.

In his speech, the Chairman, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LSUBEB) Wahab Alawiye-King, said teachers would be trained to use EkoEXCEL in three phases beginning from December 2019.

Read Also: Lagos introduces online verification of vehicle number plates

 

“Teachers are at the heart of successful learning. If we want improved outcomes for pupils, the starting point must be the continuous improvement of teaching practices, leadership practices and organisational practices. In other words, our literacy rate will not grow without having teachers who are equipped to teach pupils born in the 21st Century.Through EkoEXCEL model, teachers would be able to deliver standardised learning to pupils in public primary schools in line with global standards,” he said.

Also speaking, the Education Commissioner, Mrs Folasade Adefisayo, said the tablet would be uploaded with the curriculum and lesson notes.

“The tablet is a device that would support what they are teaching in the classroom. What we try to look for is appropriate technology.  We loaded our curriculum on it; we loaded lesson notes; we loaded how the teacher would teach each topic.  It is not that we will give teachers the tablets and leave them.  There would be people who would be coming to monitor them. We are going to work with the community, parents’ forum and the school-based management committees so that they  go on this journey with us,” she said.

The EkoEXCEL would be launched in 300 schools with 4,000 teachers trained.  In all, 14,000 teachers are expected to be re-trained under the programme.

 

By Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

The Kano State government has procured about 1million assorted text books for distribution to public schools in the state.

This was disclosed by the Commissioner for Education, Malam Muhammad Sanusi Sa’id Kiru, during the 2019 Annual General Meeting of the Dala Old Girls Association (DOGA) held at the Afficent Event Centre, Kano.

The commissioner said the provision of the text books would go a long way to facilitate better learning for pupils in primary and secondary schools across the state.

He further disclosed that 3,000 schools have been identified and would be provided with furniture under the supervision of the Schools Based Management Committees (SBMC’s).

Sanusi Kiru added that the government had also procured 1,400 tablets to facilitate pilot study for e-learning in some select schools across the three Senatorial zones of the state.

He noted that the government had also made arrangements for the renovation of some girls secondary schools including the ones in Gaya, Dambatta, Kwa, Kabo and Dala.

“Very soon, the state government will perform the taking-over ceremony of a secondary school building donated by Hon. Ali Sa’id  at Dakatsalle in Bebeji Local Government Area, and it will be converted to girls boarding secondary school,” the commissioner noted.

While thanking the DOGA for their commitment towards seeing to the betterment of their alma mater, he said that the government would do its part in assisting the school.

Read Also: Firm donates textbooks to pupils in Ondo

 

In his remark earlier, international business mogul and elder statesman, Alhaji Aminu Alhassan Dantata, admonished the Old Girls to continue with the good work of assisting their alma mater.

He presented a cheque of N10 million to the association, promising to make the same donation for a period of five years.

“Even if I die, I am leaving it as will for my family to ensure compliance,” he said.

Dantata also pledged to construct five boreholes in the school as well as ten blocks of toilets.

In her speech, the National president of DOGA, Hon. Sa’udatu Sani, called on all and sundry to collaborate in assisting the education sector, which she said, is in a sorry position.

 

In matters of correct usage and misusage, there will always be something to talk about. The reason is, too many things are taken for granted and perhaps often ignored as unimportant. Yet, the mastery of such matters, as we have remarked many times in this column, tends to mark off the tutored writer from the slapdash, instinctive writer. If you are going to be counted among the tutored writers, you would do well to pay attention to little matters that matter. Consider this week’s selection and see what we mean.

Compound adjectives

We begin with a few examples of simple compound adjectives which many do not know how to handle correctly, namely: two-man team/five-day training. “These compound “adjectives are formed by combining two words with a hyphen to modify the noun that follows. But it tends to get tricky when figures are involved as in examples (a) and (b) below. If the figure comes first, the second word in the compound adjective remains singular” (“Pop” Errors). But when writers get into a quandary about using such adjectives, they commit the type of misusage demonstrated in the defective sentence below:

(a). . .A two men team from the company held talks with county officials.

The issue here is the wrongly rendered compound adjective two men, instead of two-man. Obviously unaware of the rule that where the figure element in the compound adjective comes first you retain the second word as singular, the author of that sentence has erroneously used the plural word men to complete the formation. To make ourselves clear, we provide the correct usage in the context at issue, thus:

A two-man team from the company held talks with county officials.

In (b) below is another misused compound adjective of a similar construction:

(b). . .The five days training focused on the development of by-laws.

We will simply treat this as (a) above by just forming the compound adjective concerned like this: five-day, and apply accordingly:

The five-day training focused on the development of by-laws.

Kindly note, however, another way to treat this kind of compound adjective: Do not hyphenate the words five and days, retain them as separate words with days still plural, and add an apostrophe to days. And here is the outcome of that exercise:

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The five days’ training focused on the development of by-laws.

Wrapping up the foregoing discussions, “Pop” Errors, our writers’ companion, opines that “it is correct to say, “The two-man team conducted the five-day (or the five days’) training session for civil-society participants.” Note, however, that you cannot say five boys’ team; the apostrophe treatment applies to time only: seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, centuries, and the like. Thus, you can write a thirty seconds’ (or thirty-second) exercise; in three minutes’ time (or five hours’, two days’, three weeks’, six months’ time).”

So far, we have considered two-word compound adjectives. But compound adjectives can have more than two words; it all depends on the craftsmanship of the writer. So, let us consider another compound adjective of a similar construction, but one which has more than two words, thereby introducing another dimension to the problems some writers may have in handling such. This one says:

A 40 years old man, accused of raping a 13 years old girl, was arrested.

You would do well to begin by noting the three elements in each of the two wrongly formed compound adjectives in this sentence, namely: 40 years old and 13 years old. “The rule is to hyphenate the three elements with the second element rendered in singular. Thus, we say: 40-year-old and 13-year-old. And the whole sentence now pans out like this:

“A 40-year-old man, accused of raping a 13-year-old girl, was arrested” (“Pop” Errors).

Uncle Tom/Uncle Sam

No doubt, Uncle Tom and Uncle Sam are familiar metaphors. The question, however, is whether we always use them correctly, conveying what we mean without befuddling the reader, as in:

Military experts suggest that after America, the next 25 countries combined do not possess the martial superiority of Uncle Tom.

“Pop” Errors observes that: ‘There is confusion here; what is intended is Uncle Sam, not Uncle Tom. From the drift of the statement, the writer’s focus is America whose appellation is Uncle Sam, an early 19th century coinage “said to have arisen from an expansion of the letters US.” Uncle Tom, on the other hand, is used to refer to “a black man considered to be excessively obedient or servile to whites.” Uncle Tom originated “from a character in the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe” (OALD). So, we call Uncle Sam by the correct name:

‘Military experts auggest that after America, the next 25 countries combined do not possess the martial superiority of Uncle Sam.’

Vacuum

We need to master certain expressions for what they are, if we will use them correctly. Many are idioms and others are English standard expressions. The rule is that you use them as they are supposed to be used, without adulteration. Below is an example of careless misusage:

You do not create anything in vacuum.

Just the omission of the article a has changed the intrinsic character of an otherwise elegant English idiom. The idiom is in a vacuum. Citing the dictionary, “Pop” Errors says: “To be in a vacuum is to exist “separately from other people, events, etc. when there should be a connection.” Let us just note that the article a is part of the idiom and never dropped.” Correct usage is:

You do not create anything in a vacuum.

 

The perceived inability of some first class graduates to secure employment has raised concerns about how equipped they are in terms of entrepreneurship and employability skills.  However, academics highlight factors that may be responsible, reports DAMOLA KOLA-DARE.

Why is it difficult for those graduating in first class in the Universities to fit into important jobs in the country?

Finishing with a First Class is the highest level of academic attainment for a student.

In the opinion of  Pro-Chancellor and Dean of the College of Business, Law and Social Sciences, University of Derby, United Kingdom, Prof Kamil Omoteso  lack of entrepreneurial skills, and being ill-equipped to get ahead after graduation are those causes. He urged institutions to introduce employability skills into the curriculum.

Every year, tertiary institutions churn out thousands of graduates into the labour market. Between November and December alone, Lagos State received 4,372 corps members mobilised to serve in the Batch C for national service.

Among the thousands are the few who distinguished themselves while in school. Why some  of them are finding it difficult to get jobs has become troubling.

A lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, UNILAG, Dr Oloruntola Sunday, frowned at the notion and stated that a lack of employment could not be linked to lack of basic entrepreneurial skills.

“I strongly disagree with such a sweeping statement. Go to international organisations and find out. Our graduates, not even first class are in international organisations such as Ernst and Young, KPMG, Pfitzer and Deloitte among others.And even in reputable agencies or media houses.

“Our first class students are getting scholarships all over the world.

“While the statistics of employment in relation to the number of graduates we produce is not positively skewed, it is not necessarily because of lack of basic entrepreneurial skills,” Sunday noted.

On his part, Dr Tola Olujuwon, a Chief Lecturer in the Department of Educational Foundations and Administration, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED), Ijanikin, Lagos, said that over theorising, poor funding and lack of motivation for lecturers, the admission quota system, and others were some of the major problems that inhibit quality such that first class graduates are said to be unemployable.

He said: “The essence of education is for the educated one to be useful to himself and the society. It is expected of such a person to use effectively what he has learnt in the world of work. The major problems which affect our graduates are: the curriculum of our educational system contains too much theory instead of practical; then poor funding and lack of motivation for lecturers to build the capacity of students.”

He added: “The goal of the African traditional education system is to develop the latent skill a child possesses in order to be able to solve problems. Sadly, the majority of Nigerian youths these days have entitlement mentality.They believe when they finish school, they will work in the oil industry or be musicians. For example, the BB Naija show rewarded the winner with millions of naira, but when it comes to quiz competition, what is given to the winner is sickening.”

According to Dr Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju of the Department of English, University of Ilorin, academic training is quite different from entrepreneurial training. He also noted that Nigerian graduates were excelling in different countries of the world despite the declining standards of education in the country.

He said: “Entrepreneurship is about investing or engaging in profit making ventures. Academic training is different from entrepreneurial training, just as theoretical knowledge is different from practical skills or technical know-how. Academics receive training in knowledge systems, in theoretical postulates and scientific knowledge of the behaviour of specific phenomena or species. They also receive training in research and in developing research capabilities, but the application of research results is often left to other arms of engagement.Entrepreneurial training, whether formal or informal, is different. The person who invented the telephone may not necessarily be a good speaker, marketer or investor; the person who invented the gun may not be able to shoot well, etc. We, therefore, need to appreciate that these are different specialisations or paradigms.”

Read Also: 29 graduate with first class at Oduduwa varsity 7th convocation

Oloruntoba-Oju also said the declining educational standard was not limited to Nigeria.

“On the issue of declining educational standards, it is not helpful to make sweeping generalisations about standards based on a relatively small sample. For example, there are reports of Nigerian graduates doing well in higher institutions, in work places and businesses abroad. On the other hand, we also hear of decline in the UK and the US too, even though there is some relativity involved. Here the situation may be worse due to corruption, inadequate facilities and poor management.”

He also noted that standardization of programmes across institutions was a challenge.

“Furthermore, degrees are not necessarily standardised across institution types (e.g Federal, State and Private Universities) or across the institutions themselves. The performance output of particular first class students therefore depends on the source institution or the amount of rigour that goes into the classification of degrees in the affected institutions. A lot also depends on the amount of rigour applied in admission or recruitment processes.Institutions and employers do not admit or employ solely on the basis of class of degree but on the basis of different and cross-matched assessment criteria. First class graduates should therefore not expect that degree is the be all and end all of career development.”

Beyond the issue of entrepreneurship or employability skills, Dr Dele Ashiru, Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), UNILAG said the country lacks the enabling environment for start-up entrepreneurship.

He said: “The essence of university of education is not to make somebody employed. If you want to start a job, you must have years of experience to be qualified. I think when it comes to issues like this we should look at everything holistically.

“The way Nigeria is today, it is not encouraging any entrepreneurship. For instance, I want to set up a company, where will I get power to run it efficiently?

“All first class graduates that I know get scholarships to study abroad and they perform excellently anywhere.  University education is not about employment alone.  There are people who finish from the university and don’t seek employment.”

Immediate past Director, Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ilorin, Dr Mahfouz Adedimeji  said graduates are not employable not because of certain skills but because of bad governance and lack of proper planning.

He said: “The postulation to me is a mere academic exercise and an attempt to swim with the tides since entrepreneurship is another buzz word in our contemporary verbiage. The question is: what entrepreneurial skills did the graduates of the 60s and 70s and 80s have that made them employable? Entrepreneurship as a concept was not even trending then, if it existed in the public domain at all and they were not taught in school!”

With the increased demands for entrepreneurship and other skills, Abiodun Akinpelu, a professor of Educational Technology at the Lagos State University (LASU), said institutions are beginning to address the problem.

He said the National Universities Commission (NUC) had started reviewing university programmes with a view to incorporating entrepreneurial skills acquisition in them and developing the capacity of students to be employable. He also cited the ‘Ready Set Work’ Initiative of the Lagos State government as a platform to enhance the employability of graduates.

Akinpelu said: “Most of our colleagues abroad are soaked in illusions as per what is truly happening in Nigerian universities. NUC is busy instructing and supervising the injection of not only current developmental concepts into different university programmes but also ensuring a meaningful stress on entrepreneurial skill acquisition to enhance employability.

“I have attended accreditation exercises in tons of Nigeria universities and I can confirm that the story in our universities has changed drastically.

“The Ready Set Work initiative introduced about four years ago by the Lagos State government in all tertiary institutions in the state is aimed at heightening employability of our graduates, and now being replicated in other states.  I can say without mincing words that those declaring our First Class Graduates inferior to their foreign counterparts must be dwelling in the past.

“Have you also heard that Lagos State University is introducing ‘Stream B Admission’ which is totally built on Entrepreneurial Skill Acquisition Programmes?”

Also,Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu recently noted that the curricula of all tertiary institutions were being reviewed and developed to accommodate Entrepreneurship Education and Skills Acquisition to put the nation in the comity of technologically advanced countries.

 

Moses Emorinken, Abuja

The Honorable Commissioner of Education, Kano state, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi Said Kiru, has commended the collaboration with the development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC) to develop public libraries and promote reading culture in the state, especially among the girl-child.

The Commissioner, who disclosed this during the formal signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the development Research and Projects Center in Kano, explained that the state is implementing programs to improve the reading culture and educational outcomes through partnership in the development of public libraries in the state.

The agreement, which was signed by the state government on behalf of the Kano State Library Board (KSLB), is intended to expand the children’s collection of the Murtala Mohammed Library Kano State Library Board, to provide a learning environment for female secondary school students running community-based children centers in the state and to strengthen other collections in the Library.

In his speech, the Executive Secretary Kano State Library Board, Dr. Ibrahim Bichi, stated that the dRPC will support the library with children books, toys, provide refreshment for children visiting the library from public schools and deploy two staff to check the books usage on weekly basis.

Explaining why the dRPC decided to enter the MoU to support reading culture in Kano state, the dRPC team led by Alh. Ubale Ibrahim Rano reiterated the commitment of the dRPC to support the education sector in the state as education is one of its core mandates.

READ ALSO: Council approves establishment of new emirates in Kano

“Let me reassure the state government of our commitment to support the ongoing efforts at moving the education sector forward as we collectively work to support the determination to make education accessible to all in the state,” he said.

The dRPC and the KSLB have had three years of fruitful collaboration; working together to train female secondary school graduates to run community based early childhood development centers with min-libraries.

Under the PSIPSE project, forty girls are currently running ECD centers across the state especially in rural areas.

The MoU, which will last for one year, constitutes a new mechanism to deepen the collaboration between the dRPC and the State government to realize the Kano state government’s vision for an improved reading culture.

The dRPC, a local non-governmental organization, will donate thousands of books to the state Library. Also with the support of the state government, it will strengthen and expand existing collections.

Moses Emorinken, Abuja

In its effort to ensure the federal government priorities health financing, especially in the percentage allocated to health sector, the Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health at Scale (PACFaH@Scale), has launched a social media campaign (#fundmyhealth2020) to hold lawmakers accountable to meet the 15 per cent quota for the health budget.

According to a statement issued and signed by the Executive Director of PACFaH@Scale, Dr Judith Ann-Walker, in April 2001, the African Union countries met in Abuja and pledged to set a target of allocating at least 15 per cent of their annual budget to improve the health sector.

However, the celebration after the agreement was short lived, as 18 years down the line and only a handful of countries – Rwanda, Botswana, Ethiopia, Malawi, Gambia, Swaziland, Zambia, have met the 2001 Abuja declaration target. Nigeria that hosted the conference in 2001 has never met the 15 per cent budget line and has only recorded 5.95 per cent as the highest percentage allocated to the health sector in 2012.

“The World Health Organization (WHO) in 2017 ranked Nigeria’s health system 187 among the 191 member states only ahead of Congo, Central African Republic and Myanmar. In spite of technological advances, health care provision is proving more complicated as the Nigerian population continues to rise.

“Infant and under-five mortality rates are amongst the highest in the world, with WHO stating that at least 120 under-five children in Nigeria die for every 1000 live births and the average life expectancy is estimated at 55 for men and 56 for women. Researchers have associated Nigeria’s dysfunctional health system to gross inadequate infrastructural support, electricity, potable water and diagnostic labs, low per capita health spending and high out of pocket expenditure by citizens,” the statement said.

READ ALSO: CSOs to government: prioritise health budgeting

Dr Walker noted that the 2020 proposed National Budget only allocated 4.14 per cent to the health sector, which is inadequate.

“The N10.33 trillion budget has allocated N427 billion to health with N336 billion for recurrent expenditures (salaries), N44 billion for the basic health care fund (actual service delivery) and N46 billion for capital expenditure (infrastructure or equipment).

“The social media campaign has highlighted the defects in the funding for the health sector and its uneven distribution of resources already within the underfunded sector.

“The social media campaign is, therefore, designed to enable Nigerians talk to the legislators about the need to improve the budget from the current 4.14 per cent to the 15 per cent agreed in 2001.

“Nigerians are calling on lawmakers to listen to their pleas and increase the funding for health more than what the 2020 proposed budget has outlined,” she added.

Olaitan Ganiu

In its vision to create a more intelligent patient care environment for underprivileged people, BeepTool has launched Lafiya Telehealth platform to solve the healthcare crisis in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

Current statistics for medical assistance access in the region are terrifying, especially in this era of technological innovation. Alarmingly, 50% of Nigerians, which encompasses over 90 million people, do not have access to quality medical care.

The founders saw the need for a breakthrough and founded Lafiya which means “health” in Hausa.

Founder and CEO of BeepTool, John Enoh stated that the uniqueness of Lafiya is the proprietary Telemedicine device. The solar and satellite-enabled device will help extend healthcare to remote and rural areas where doctor shortage exist.

According to him, the Telehealth device will be deployed with a kiosk that has AI powered devices to take blood samples and run test on the spot. This is a solution that will disrupt the healthcare industry and bridge the gap of doctor shortage across Nigeria and Africa.

“Launching Lafiya Telehealth is a huge milestone for us, and we are proud to be working in fulfilling our commitment to expanding digital health options for consumers with a mission to provide anywhere, anytime high-quality affordable healthcare accessible and on-demand, from any location to as many people as possible. This launch signifies a major step forward for the future of healthcare in Nigeria,” he stated.

Enoh further stated that the Lafiya Telehealth platform provides a high-definition video interaction along with the medical device attachments all in a private setting via a smartphone, tablet, pc or the kiosk. BeepTool is looking forward to deploying the technology to every city and rural community in Nigeria and Africa. They are open to partnership and investment from individuals, health care providers, institutions, businesses, NGO and government agencies to support the deployment in every community in Nigeria.

READ ALSO: Education, healthcare top Lagos’ N1.1 trillion 2020 budget

“You no longer need to worry about access to genuine medications. They send your prescriptions to pharmacies near you and text you when they are ready for pick up. Lafiya Telehealth is being integrated to all licensed pharmacy stores in urban and rural communities in Nigeria and beyond.

“Lafiya Telehealth brings quality healthcare services and professionals to the comfort of your home via its web, mobile app, smartphone, tablet and virtual healthcare kiosk integrated to remote examination medical device and telehealth platform that virtually replicates the in-clinic primary care experience, by providing a remote physician almost the same clinical tools he has in the clinic now also in a telehealth encounter. It utilizes voice and video chat consultations, quality diagnostic tests, genuine medications, and specialist referrals through an affordable subscription plan that requires no out-of-pocket payment” he said..

The mobile application component of this product utilizes the power of artificial intelligence. It replicates existing workflow of doctors and nurses and intelligently bridges the gaps to provide smooth and satisfactory experience for all parties involved. You can download the app from the play store here https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.telehealthcare.

Moses Emorinken, Abuja

The National Primary Health Care Developmental Agency (NPHCDA) has revealed that not less than 4,000 Primary Health Care (PHC) centers across the country have been renovated with support from states and developmental partners.

The Executive Secretary of the National Primary Health Care Developmental Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, made this known in Abuja at the first year anniversary of the Technical Support Programme (TSP) of the agency aimed at providing technical assistance for sates primary healthcare boards and agencies upon request.

According to him, “We are very mindful that we are working in a tight fiscal space, so what it means is that we are not expecting that overnight all 10,000 PHC centers will be available.

“So far, since President Muhammadu Buhari launched the revitalization of 10,000 PHC centers across the country in Kuchigoro in 2017, working with states, donor and development partners, about 4,000 PHC centres have been renovated.

“However there is still the gap that requires electricity, water, commodities, and drugs; all of these will have to work but we will have to take it in phases.

“Maybe what we all need to agree is that within the first 2 to 3 years, at least 50 per cent of Nigerians should be able to access any PHC center and get essential services; in another 5 years, 70 per cent; then maybe in another 7 to 10 years, by the time we are measuring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2030, all Nigerians should have access to PHC services that can actually treat their conditions that will not lead to catastrophic financial hardship as a result of paying out of pocket”.

It would be recalled that in 2017 the federal government kicked off a scheme to revitalize over 10,000 primary healthcare centers (PHCs) across the country, in its bid to achieving Universal Health Coverage for all.

Dr. Shuaib further explained that for the very first time in the history of Nigeria, under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, there was a fund set aside to the tune of N55 billion in 2019 towards providing basic health care services for all Nigerians. The Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) is one per cent of the federal government Consolidated Revenue and contributions from donor grants set aside to fund the basic health needs.

According to him, “What we have done at the federal ministry of health, the NPHCDA, the NHIS, and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), is to look at those funds in line with the provision of 2014 Health Act, and say – how do we identify one PHC centre per ward that this fund will be directed to in a way that the funds are not kept in Abuja but are sent to the states and the PHC centres? This way the funds will be used for renovation of the PHC centres.

“The Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF) is for the provision of electricity, water, human resources – nurses, midwives, community health extension workers, drugs, commodities, engaging with the communities, and creating demand for the services.

“In terms of proportion, 45 per cent of these funds are for basic health care services through the NPHCDA gateway, while 50 per cent is through the NHIS. 5 per cent goes to the federal ministry of health and the NCDC”.

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Minister of Health, Mr. Osagie Ehanire, in his keynote address lauded the Technical Support Programme (TSP) initiative by the NPHCDA as being very effective in ensuring that that every citizen has access to optimum quality healthcare irrespective of social status.

Represented by the Director of Public Health of the Federal Ministry of Health, Mrs. Evelyn Ngige, he said, “The approach to the TSP is prompt and aimed at ensuring that the agency achieves its mission which is to deliver technical support to states primary healthcare boards and agencies.

“The first approach focuses on developing and institutionalizing a system to deliver the needed support to the states while the second focuses on systematically building agencies staff capacity to effectively operationalise this system.

“These strategies if well implemented will achieve a healthy health system and also enhance government ownership of interventions for effective delivery of public health programmes at the primary health care level. This programme is well on track with visible successes across the six intervention areas”.