The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Region 36, Egbeda, Lagos State, has donated an intensive care unit (ICU) to the Alimosho General Hospital, Igando. The ICU is named after General Overseer of the RCCG and his wife, Pastor Enoch and Mrs. Folu Adeboye.
Mrs. Adeboye, while opening the ICU at the weekend, described it as an attestation of God’s love being expressed through his children. She stressed the need for human beings to ‘think of others and what will benefit them’.
The cleric, popularly called ‘Mummy G.O, also urged the people to be intentional about living healthy. “Health is more important than prosperity. We must desire good health and work towards a healthy living. We must also nurture our children in health so we don’t waste resources.
“And to the donors of this centre, Daddy and I are proud of you and your efforts. We are joyful that our children are walking in the light. May heaven reward you abundantly,” she added.
Pastor in charge of Region 36, Dele Jayeoba, said the church decided on the project because it has a culture of excellence in ensuring that its Corporate Social Responsibility projects (CSR) has great positive impacts on the society.
“This is another win for Region 36. I want to believe this project will be used judiciously and more will come by the grace of God. “What we met was a shell of a building. Part of the roof and windows were off, so we did a complete renovation of the structure and equipped it with modern medical equipments needed in a standard ICU. We can only pray that patients brought in there would survive by the grace of God,” he said.
Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Ayodapo Soyinka, thanked the Church for the grand gesture and promised that the facility will be maintained to the utmost standard. He also promised it will be expanded beyond its current status.
According to Soyinka, the structure was a triage centre in the heat of COVID-19 which however became redundant after the phase passed.
He said: “So we got permission from the Ministry of Health to repurpose the building and this is what became the ICU today. We decided on the ICU because none of the government health facilities in this axis has a functional ICU, and many times we have had to refer patients to LASUTH or LUTH.
“The church signified its interest in reinventing the place for us. They bought into our vision to transform the place to an ICU and here we are today. The church did the full renovation and brought in medical supplies needed for its full operation. So by first week in December, the ICU will become fully operational.
“The ICU will also be run on a PPP arrangement. We have signed an agreement with a team of professionals who will be running the place, with a lot of volunteer work from our own staff, particularly from our anesthesia department. So I’m sure we will have enough personnel to run the place. And because it’s going to be semi-private run, I’m certain a high standard wil be maintained.”
Soyinka listed equipment provided by the church to include electric and manual beds, ventilators, six multiparameter monitors, infusion pumps, special mattresses for ICU, suction machines, oxygen concentrators, AED machine to rescue a patient experiencing cardiac arrest, and other consumables. He added that the oxygen is piped so there will be no need to move the cylinder around.
The event was also attended by Chairman of the Lagos State Health Service Commission Dr. Atinuke Onayiga, and Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ola Olukoyede, who is also a pastor in the RCCG. He led the project team.
Comply with procurement law, NGO urges Ekiti officials
From Rasaq Ibrahim, Ado-Ekiti
Anon-governmental organisation, Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC), has urged ministries, departments and agencies of the Ekiti State government to ensure strict compliance with provisions of the procurement law.
The Senior Programme Advisor, Ife Olatunji-David, spoke in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, during a five-day sub-national public procurement bootcamp organised by the centre in partnership with MacArthur Foundation.
At the event were stakeholders in the procurement process, including the officials of the Ekiti State Bureau of Public Procurement, heads of MDA’s, civil society organisations and media executives.
Olatunji-David said procurement officers in the MDAs have a responsibility to ensure compliance with regulatory procurement frameworks towards ensuring delivery of quality project.
She lamented that several civil servants are not fully conversant with laid down processes in the award and execution of public contracts, hence, the urgent need for MDAs to understand the procurement laws.
The Senior Programme Advisor advocated transparency and accountability in the implementation of projects, saying such will enhance the trust and confidence of citizens in government.
The group Senior Communication officer, Nnenna Eze said that the bootcamp was organised to sensitise the public on the procurement laws, transparency and accountability practices, monitoring and evaluation of public projects.
She explained that the programme would give participants a better understanding and synergy in the procurement process and promote transparency and openness in public expenditure at the sub-national level.
She called on citizens to take advantage of the Freedom of Information Act to get access information to public records and information especially on procurement and projects implementation.
This, she, said will promote transparency and accountability, build public trust and improve public service because when governments realise that their activities are subject toscrutiny they become more circumspect.
In her submission, a Director in the Ekiti State Bureau of Public Procurement, Mrs Bolanle Oladele stated that procurement processes have become more open and transparent since the state joined the Open Government Partnership.
She noted that the state government has been running an open governance with the development of an institutionalised portal where all procurement processes were accessible to build public trust and confidence.
