Tag: Fed Govt

The federal government is reviewing the capitation fees paid to healthcare providers under the national health insurance programme.

Capitation fees are the payment of a fee or grant to a doctor, or school, determined by the number of patients, pupils, or customers that are served.

This move addresses longstanding concerns from hospital proprietors involved in the scheme.

According to a statement, the director-general of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr. Kelechi Ohiri, disclosed that the capitation fees have not been reviewed for many years. He then emphasized that addressing this issue has become crucial for the healthcare sector.

“It’s been a while since tariffs were reviewed. We initiated actuarial reviews in February to have a solid foundation for adjusting these tariffs,” he said.

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The goal of these reviews is to gather evidence and determine an affordable basic minimum package of services for patients. This will help ensure consistent and predictable healthcare services at hospitals.

Ohiri noted the significant support being provided to vulnerable groups to encourage their participation in the health insurance programme. This initiative is a key priority for the Federal Government he stated.

“The Vulnerable Group Fund acknowledges that while health insurance can be contributory, it can also be non-contributory, where the government pays for the poor and vulnerable,” explained Dr. Ohiri.

This fund, part of the NHIA’s mandate, supports poor Nigerians, people with disabilities, internally displaced persons, the elderly, and other vulnerable groups.

The definition of vulnerability now includes women at risk of death during childbirth, a group predominantly found in rural areas.

The NHIA, Ohiri said, is enhancing partnerships with state government-run health insurance programmes, which is crucial for boosting enrolment nationwide. He praised state governments for their efforts to expand health insurance.

“Every state in Nigeria now has a state health insurance scheme, with Rivers State being the latest to join. Many states are also setting up Equity Funds to complement federal efforts,” he noted.

Despite these efforts, only about 16 million Nigerians, or 7 percent of the population, are currently covered by health insurance. The new NHIA Act aims to increase this coverage. “With the act making insurance mandatory, we now have a pathway to universal coverage. We aim to increase the coverage significantly from the current 7 percent,” said Dr. Ohiri.

Dr. Ohiri stressed that improving health insurance coverage is a collective responsibility involving both public and private sectors.

“We have a mixed insurance space with NHIA, state health insurance schemes, private health insurance agencies, HMOs, and administrators. Achieving universal healthcare coverage requires joint efforts from the federal and state governments, private sector, and civil society organizations,” he concluded.

This review and the initiatives being undertaken by the NHIA are expected to strengthen Nigeria’s healthcare system and make health insurance more accessible to all citizens, particularly the most vulnerable groups.

Federal Government through National Council on Climate Change has endorsed an initiative to distribute 80 million clean cookstoves free to households.

This is to solve global climate crisis, environmental challenges and improve livehoods.

The initiative is under auspices of Greenplinth Africa, with strategic partners.

Greenplinth said it is the largest clean cooking systems project in the world and a step to combat adverse health and environmental impacts associated with traditional cooking methods, such as indoor air pollution and deforestation.

President, Dr. Olawale Akinwumi, in a statement, said the cookstoves would transform lives, mostly for women and children affected by harmful traditional cooking practices.

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He noted adoption of clean and efficient cookstoves would lead to improved indoor air quality, reduce respiratory illnesses, and mitigate climate change through lower carbon emissions.

Director General of National Council on Climate Change, Dr. Salisu Dahiru, who gave a formal Letter of Endorsement, noted the project would result in greenhouse gas emission reduction and lead to forest development and job creation.

He said besides reduction in emissions, it would decrease upper respiratory infections, improving health conditions.

Its Vice President, Dr. Victor Fodeke, hoped Nigerians would experience benefits while contributing to global efforts in combating climate change.

Fodeke, a former Technical adviser on Climate Change to African Union, said the project includes afforestation campaign, with plans to plant a four billion economic trees.

Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, has voted for autonomy, saying Federal Government must not allow foreign forces in its territory.

Buratai’s position came after allegations by some n orthern leaders that United States and France were lobbying for new defence pacts to pave the way to redeploy their expelled military forces from the Sahel.

“I commend Federal Government for its stand against the reported planned redeployment of U.S forces being withdrawn from Niger Republic to Nigeria,” he soldier-diplomat, who was said.

He added: “The minister of Information and National Orientation made it clear Nigeria had no plan to harbour the troops on our soil.”

In a letter to the President, some northern leaders warned that the presence of fo reign military bases would worsen relations between Nigeria and Niger as well as Francophone countries…”

In an interview, David Greene, U.S chargé d’affaires in Nigeria, refuted the reports.

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“I am not aware of any such conversation, and I am not sure whose purpose it serves to agitate on this point,” he said.

But Buratai noted given Nigeria’s continental and regional clout, strategic autonomy is  the best doctrine from which to manage disruptive international geopolitical theatre.

He said in 2014 and 2015, Nigeria had declined deployment of UN or AU international force to fight Boko Haram.

‘‘Nigeria rejected a UN or AU international peacekeeping force to fight Boko Haram in 2014 and 2015.

“Birth of the new MNJTF with headquarters in Ndjamena was the solution to a foreign force deployment that could have placed these foreign forces as an inter-position force between Boko Haram territory and Nigerian territory.

“Implication of this is that it could have given territorial legitimacy to the insurgents.

“Similarly, as Army chief, I had to recover Gamboru-Ngala from the insurgents to prevent deployment of Chadian Forces on Nigerian soil. The MNJTF Concept of Operation was to have three sectors.

“Sector 1 in Cameroon’s Far North, with Cameroonian troops. Sector 2 in Ngamboru-Ngala on our territory, with Chadian troops. Sector 3 in Baga in northern Borno State,with Nigerian troops.

A new wage system based on employee’s productivity in the civil service is underway, the federal government said on Monday, May 13.

The government said with the system, workers on the same level could earn different salaries.

The government said the formulation of an innovative wage system was being considered because it realised that productivity was a key factor in the growth of the country’s economy.

The Director-General of the National Productivity Centre (NPC), Nasir Raji-Mustapha, disclosed this on Monday during a meeting with Labour correspondents.

He said: “We are in the process of developing a productivity-led wage system that will ensure that those who are productive are rewarded for their efforts irrespective of their grade level. Under the proposed system, employees on the same salary scale can earn different wages.”

When asked whether the new proposal on a productivity-led wage system had the support and input of organised labour, the NPC boss stressed that such a task couldn’t be carried out without the input of labour.

Raji-Mustapha said: “Of course, labour as a critical stakeholder is being carried along in this exercise. As researchers, we don’t just do things without considering the recipient of the reports.

“When we started the project about three or four years ago, we held a stakeholders’ forum in which the labour unions participated. We even went further to send a memo to NLC and TUC to ask them whether they will support the proposed Wage System and they said they will welcome it.”

He added that the report for the first phase of the study was ready, adding that the next stage would be to engage various stakeholders to consider and make input before finally presenting it to the federal government for its consideration and possible adoption.

The NPC boss also disclosed that the Centre was collaborating with several international agencies and organisations to ensure that the productivity and skills of Nigerian workers are greatly improved to impact positively on the economy.

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Specifically, he said the NPC has widened its scope of collaboration between it and international agencies such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Japanese International Cooperation Agency, (JACA), Africa Productivity Association and Asia Productivity Association.

According to him, the Centre has done a lot in the area of productivity promotion and advocacy for youths, especially the Youths Corp members at the NYSC camps, adding NPC has resuscitated preaching and promoting productivity at the NYSC camps.

He also disclosed that the Vice President, Kashim Shettima would be the keynote speaker at the two-day National Productivity Summit organised by the centre and holding the nation’s capital tomorrow.

“The summit is very important because, in today’s rapidly evolving global landscape, you will agree with me that there is a need for increased productivity. We must harness the power of science, technology and innovation and use them to optimise the resources in the country and the VP is the keynote speaker,” he added.

The Federal Government has concluded plans to introduce drastic measures that will mitigate the rising incidents of aircraft veering or skidding off the runway at airports across the country.

Part of the measures, a source familiar with the development told The Nation, would include audit of runway and air field operational facilities and steps being taken by the agencies managing them to fix complaints by aircraft pilots.

Significantly, the source said the Federal Government is pushing for the urgent implementation of safety recommendations in accident reports rolled out by the apex air transport probe agency: Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB).

In particular, the government is keen at fixing issues of safety, pointed out in the NSIB reports, as it affects what the industry regulator, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), must as a necessity implement, and parlous infrastructure, including obsolete airside facilities that Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has failed to fix in the last few years.

The government, it was learnt, is  worried that the rising incidents of aircraft skidding off the runway has involved mainly indigenous carriers.

Such concerns, the source said, might trigger inquiry into the conditions under which pilots employed by airlines work, to address the influx of expatriate crew who are not familiar with the state of landing facilities, where is obvious deterioration.

To push for the new measures intended to reduce incidents of aircraft skidding off the runway, the source said the regulatory agency would be impressing it on airlines to review their safety management systems to mitigate the wrong perception recurring incidents arewrecking on the psyche of air travellers and other watchers of the industry.

The source affirmed that the NCAA and NSIB would be paying closer attention to how affected airlines activate the relevant emergency safety procedures.

Besides, the source said the Federal Government is also looking at the maintenance status/profile of aircraft in the fleet of indigenous carriers, which have been involved in three incidents of skidding off the runway of the Lagos Airport in the last five months.

The spike in the serious aircraft incidents is create unease at the right quarters posing serious safety concerns at local and international fora.

The source hinted that the Federal Government is worried over the state of Runway 18Left at the Lagos Airports with mounting complaints of flooding occasioned by heavy precipitation.

The source said the FAAN is not rising to the occasion in fixing sore points raised by airline operators and their pilots on runway and other airside facilities.

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In the last few years, FAAN has closed  runways at Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Owerri airports to flight traffic because aircraft experienced serious incidents in the facility.

Weekend’s incident involving a premium service carrier, Xejet Airlines, whose Embraer 145 passengers skidded off the Runway 18 Left of the Lagos Airport and the serious incident of Dana Air about three weeks ago at same Runway 18Left, may have triggered the closer inquiry into the matter.

Last November, two aircraft from two airlines skidded off the runway in one week.

The incident involved an Aero Contractors, Flight NG 119 with a registered Boeing 737 aircraft 5N-BYQ from Lagos to Abuja with 133 passengers on board.

All passengers were safely evacuated through a controlled disembarkation.

In the same week, an aircraft operated by ValueJet Airline slipped on a taxi turn after landing and cleared off the runway at Port Harcourt airport at 3.30 local time. No damage was done to the aircraft.

United Airlines also recorded an incident in September 2023 where its aircraft also skidded off the runway. Achilleus-Chud Uchegbu, the head of corporate communications, said the flight had successfully operated and landed at its destination, having arrived from the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport in Owerri.

However, upon touching down in the downpour, the plane’s tyres lost grip on the wet surface, making it skid off the runway.

Speaking in an interview, an industry player, who pleaded not to mentioned in print said :” The Federal Government is getting worried over the optics generated in the aviation industry , where issues of safety and aircraft skidding off the runway is becoming unnerving.

“ There will be urgent action by the government to redress this ugly situation , the relevant aeronautical authorities will need to overhaul the system, as it affects aircraft crew, the airplanes, their airworthiness status, their maintenance records, the state of runway facilities, wet surfaces and many other considerations.

“Why are these incidents on the rise, what is the level of cooperation between the crew and those providing weather information and air traffic services.

If  pilot will make approach , how reliable are the facilities , he is relying upon.

“ If the entire system is not overhauled, in terms of operational facilities, crew proficiency , equipment reliability and command, these incidents of aircraft skidding off airfield facilities could be a precursor of not very nice things to come.”

Industry experts including , Managing Director of Centurion Securities Limited, Group Captain John Ojikutu (rtd) and Engineer Sheri Kyari, and aircraft engineer have over the years canvassed Facility Maintenance Programme by the affected agencies, especially FAAN in intervening in decaying / obsolete airside Infrastructure.

Umbrella body of indigenous carriers: Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), has also over the years voiced against deplorable airside Infrastructure, including runways, taxi -ways and other facilities needed for safety take -off and landing of aircraft.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, has reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to achieving environmentally-sound management of green and sustainable chemistry, in line with the transformative goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.

Orelope-Adefulire, who was represented by her Senior Technical Advisor on SDGs, Dr. Bala Yusuf Yunusa, spoke at the maiden African Regional Conference on Green and Sustainable Chemistry sponsored by the American Chemical Society (ACS) and hled at Sheraton Hotel at Ikeja in Lagos.

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The presidential aide noted that Nigeria’s strategic approach to the implementation of SDGs were at the national and sub-national levels.

She said: “At the national level, OSSAP-SDGs works closely with the Federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to integrate the relevant SDGs into their sectoral policies and plans. At the sub-national level, similar institutional structures have been adopted by the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).