The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Healthcare

  • Our healthcare plan, by doctors

    Our healthcare plan, by doctors

    Worried about the decline in the health system, the Nigeria Medical Association has gathered in Jos, the Plateau State capital, to chart the way forward. The doctors, at the end of their meeting, issued what they called the Jos Declaration.

    National President of the NMA Dr. Lawrence Kayode Obembe who signed the 10-point communique on behalf of his members, said Nigeria is not lacking in qualified medical doctors, only the political will of government to take care of the health needs of its own citizens.

    “At the moment, the federal government has been starving the health sector of required funds. What the federal government has been giving to its health sector annual is less than 5% of its annual budget. But what the sector desires is 15% of the annual budget.

    “This 15% we are demanding for is not an outrageous demand; this is the universal minimum standard for health coverage of a nation. Every Nigerian citizens is entitled to qualitative health coverage, this is the universal health declaration which Nigeria is signatory, we cannot afford to lag behind for this long.

    “We wish to remind the three tiers of government on the need to ensure the setting aside of a minimum of 15% of the nation’s budgetary allocation to health. This is in consonance with the African Union’s 2000 treaty in Abuja Nigeria, knowing full well that this is the recommended minimal percentage for health. Universal Health Care coverage cannot be actualised without a reliable and realistic budgeting into the nation’s healthcare services.

    The NMA further stated in their communiqué: “The NMA appreciates the FG’s recent initiative tagged “The 2014 Declaration” which aimed to ensure that the 30 per cent Coverage (UHC) target by 2015 set by the president is achievable. The declaration sought to develop a blueprint on how to ensure UHC in the country, and charged all levels of government in the country to increase budgetary allocation to health with a portion earmarked for UHC priority interventions; define a standard benefits package of essential health services that address priority health care needs of Nigerians, and inaugurate appropriate committees that will initiate actions towards the realisation of the recommendations of the Presidential Summit.

    “The NMA views this action as a right step in the right direction. The NMA commends the organisers of this summit and charge the Federal, State and Local Government authorities to faithfully implement the recommendations in the UHC 2014 Declaration to achieve the desired objectives.

    “There is no gain doubting the critical role of a healthy population in promoting sustainable economic growth and national development. To achieve this, we must not only institutionalise UHC, we need to develop our healthcare delivery systems. Adequately staffed and equipped hospitals need to be made available throughout the country, including the rural areas, where most Nigerians live.

    “The UHC Declaration has rightly identified unequal quality of health care services, and shortage and mal-distribution of human resources for health as key challenges. These manifest in the shortage and quality of health care services and human resources in our rural areas. The relevant authorities must resolve to redress this.

    The NMA supports the Federal Government’s position on the importance of health to national development, and its identification of insurance as the best vehicle to achieve universal health coverage.

    The socio-economic realities in the country at this time dictate that there is a dire need for the expansion of access to healthcare in the present-day Nigeria, requiring all levels of government and even non-governmental organisations to do everything possible to make health care available to all, especially those on the lower rungs of the social ladder. In this regard, the plan by the NHIS to enroll pregnant women and children under the age of five in the scheme by 2015 is also a step in the right direction. It will help to increase the base of participants, reduce infant and maternal mortality, and move the nation closer towards the attainment of the objectives of the scheme.

    Health insurance is one sure way to provide health care for the poor. It is, indeed, the best way to ensure that both the rich and the poor can access healthcare wherever they live in the country. It is the panacea for sustainable growth and development. NMA strongly believes that UHC will help to reduce Nigerians’ penchant for medical tourism, as it will provide a pool of funds to improve health care services in the country.

    “It is our view that the presidential mandate of 30 percent coverage of Nigerians in the NHIS by 2015 is conservative enough. The relevant agencies of government should be able to achieve and even exceed this, if they demonstrate the necessary commitment to achieving the objective. The Federal Government has rightly set the ball rolling towards the achievement of this objective with the 2014 Declaration on UHC. The challenge now is in the courts of the three tiers of government to work towards the institutionalization of the scheme. Sadly, only very few states have embraced the NHIS at the moment. It has become imperative for all states to bring their workers on board. There is the need for greater commitment of the states to UHC. It is also necessary to increase the participation of the formal sector, which has not been impressive so far, while strategies are designed to bring in the largely untapped informal sector.

    “To achieve UHC and increase enrollment in the NHIS, all hands must be on deck to promote public   enlightenment on the benefits of health insurance. The NHIS must, however, intensify improvement (e.g. digitalisation) of its operations on its ongoing biometric data capturing of participants, which has already reportedly thrown up 100,000 fake enrollees. Fraudsters must not be allowed to hijack and make nonsense of this very noble scheme.

    Commenting on the ongoing strike by medical workers across the country, the medical doctors said, “The NMA is deeply perturbed by the burden of health challenges bedeviling the nation. This is compounded by the rat-race power tussle among healthcare givers threatening the already ravaged health care system in the country. For the avoidance of doubt, the NMA wishes to inform Nigerians that doctors in Nigeria remain committed to providing qualitative health care services to the nation, even in the face of several challenges and difficulties. We hereby bring to the public notice that the members of the NMA are NOT on strike, but rather have continued to render services and keep the nation’s public health care facilities functional despite the current strike action being embarked upon by health workers. Members of the NMA will continue to keep health services running and shall not succumb to cheap blackmail. We, however, urge the government to honor all agreements so far reached with the Nigerian Medical Association, to boost the already bashed morale of the Nigeria doctor.

     

     

  • A healthcare boost in Anambra

    A healthcare boost in Anambra

    How do you discourage  people from travelling abroad to treat almost every ailment, and save money? It is by equipping the hospitals at home, says the Chief Emma Bishop Okonkwo Foundation.

    The foundation demonstrated this by donating some high-value items to the Anambra State University Teaching Hospital (ANSUTH). The gesture thrilled staff of the hospital.

    The equipment, according to Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joseph Akabuike, will stop what he described as medical tourism through which millions of naira is lost.

    Some of the donated equipment included four units of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds, fowler beds, plain beds, attending beds, emergency recovery trolleys, obstetric labour tables, obstetric labour examination tables, bedside lockers and over-bed tables.

    Others were wheelchair folders, hydraulic operating tables in wooden boxes, crash carts, IV stands, monitor trolleys, instrument trolleys and dressing trolleys, all in varying numbers amounting to 58 units.

    The cash donated was not mentioned but The Nation gathered that the equipment given out was worth over N200 million.

    Akabuike said the administration of Governor Willie Obiano is committed to boosting medical infrastructure in the state teaching hospital.

    This, according to him, is a means of ending what he called capital flight through overseas travels for medical attention.

    He said the Obiano administration is focused on attracting rich individuals from other states to Anambra for medical care rather going abroad.

    Furthermore, he said the state is encouraging rich individuals and corporate organizations to donate medical equipment for the upgrade of the hospital, adding that Obiano’s dream of making the state attractive will be realised.

    Again, Akabuike said that in countries like Nigeria, donor agencies are very rarely regarded, adding that rich individuals who should help tend to invest more in politics than helping the poor.

    “Here today, we have a man who knows the importance of donating to charity; he has always done so and we appreciate him”

    “This institution has a lot of potentials and the management team here has been managing it well, even with the meager resources available”.

    “Government is committed to giving Anambra a world-class health facility that can meet the health needs of the people and even stop medical tourism”.

    “We call on other rich individuals to make contributions as government cannot do everything for us, but with the help of some individuals, these things will be achievable”

    The former President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo worldwide, Dr. Dozie Ikedife, who chairs the hospital board, thanked the foundation for the donation.

    The Ohaneze boss who had been in Medical practice for 56 years  said his years  in the field, the equipment donated to the hospital by the foundation were of highest grade and obtainable in world class institutions.

    Also, while speaking with the Nation, the Chairman of the foundation, Prof. O.O. Mbonu, said the donation was borne out of the objective of the foundation to assist  in provision of quality and affordable healthcare to the needy through various programmes.

    Though, he refused to mention the price of the equipment, Mbonu said the foundation hopes that the equipment would improve healthcare in the hospital.

    The Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Lawrence Ikeakor, said the equipment will help the state in its drive to obtain one of the goals of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which he said is the reduction of maternal mortality.

    He said, “The equipment will help us function better and also bring out the professionals in us”

    “This equipment will help us reduce maternal mortality and attain development goal faster”

    “Ours is an institution that has potential, by next year (2015), we are graduating our first set of medical doctors and all we can assure the foundation is that we will put the equipment to optimal use” Ikeakor said.

  • Nigerians hail NHIS healthcare plans

    Nigerians hail NHIS healthcare plans

    The National Health Insurance Scheme campaign on its new programmes came to Lagos few days ago.

    It moved on to Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, and to the Southeast, including Asaba, Onitsha and Enugu.

    Residents of the cities hailed the government for the scheme.

    The campaign, which featured a road show and market storm in Lagos, rocked major parts of the city, from Ikeja to a village square meeting at Tabon-Tabon community in Agege Local Government Area.

    Community leaders at Tabon-Tabon were educated on how to register and benefit from NHIS programmes.

    NHIS Lagos State Coordinator, Mrs. Evelyn Olokun, who was represented by Senior Manager, Chika Amahalu, educated the audience on several platforms available to the people to enjoy the numerous NHIS programmes, including those offering direct benefits to people in the communities.

    She said: “The community-based programme is the one that will serve the community people the more. The good thing about this is that the community residents choose the hospital to use and manages their contributions by themselves through a seven-man Board of Trustees (BoT) that will be formed to oversee the programme for the community. And because the money is collectively paid, it runs into a “pool” of funds that will enhance the capacity of the community to take advantage of the NHIS Community-Based Social Insurance Programme.”

    On the possibility that the pool of fund may not be large enough to cover the healthcare needs of the community, Mrs Amahalu explained that all enrolees are not likely to get ill at the same time.

    She said this means the funds would be available every time to take care of those who require treatment.

    The programme, the coordinator said, also covers expectant mothers and children under five to access it free for three years, beginning from the commencement of the programme in their communities.

     

     

  • Doctors urged to improve healthcare

    Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi has called on resident doctors across Nigeria to give their best always to improve the healthcare delivery system.

    He spoke during the 34th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) held at University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH). The theme was Postgraduate medical training and national development, challenges of the past, present and future.

    The governor charged them not to depend on government for everything, rather they should look outside the medical book to improve the system.

    Amechi, represented the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Sampson Parker, said NARD has become a force in the fight to restore the dignity of the sector, adding that this is owing to the demand for a better healthcare.

    The governor enjoined doctors to embrace best practices to develop the sector.

    He said NARD can achieve the needed result without resorting to strike, adding that a conducive environment must be created to improve the system for the good of all rather than embarking on a strike.

    He said the country has what it takes to operate a healthy system if the demands of doctors are met.

    “We must think strongly of private sector participation in healthcare system.  This is the time to think how we can improve ourselves because we must think of policies that will make us be in charge of the medical sector,” Amechi noted.

    He further said, “I cannot use the words “Port Harcourt is free of Ebola,” but we have been able to contain it and whenever it comes up we are ready to tackle it. We have made the people have confidence in the system. Ebola is still ravaging other African countries, so we have to be careful.”

    Responding, NARD President, Dr. Jibril Abdullahi, said many issues relating to professional calling of doctors have been politicised, adding that this was why they embarked on a strike.

    He said doctors invest in themselves to improve in their profession rather than the government. Abdullahi regretted the decision to continue the strike during Ebola outbreak, adding: “This is when the country needed us the most.”

    He said over 90 percent of resident doctors leave outside hospitals, due to lack of accommodation, adding that this should not be because they need to live closer to the environment where they work.

    Abdullahi called for good working environment, adding that people will have confidence in the doctor and over-dependence on health tourism will be reduced.”

    NARD chairman, UPTH chapter, Dr. Dan-Jumbo Prince said resident doctors are affected by factors, such as poor quality tools and working environment, among others.

  • ‘Environmental health solution to healthcare problems’

    Memories of the 25th inaugural lecture of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) will linger following what participants termed its uniqueness. The lecture was delivered by Prof A. N. Amadi, Head of Department, Public Health.

    Speaking on “Environmental health: The dynamics, application, implications and way forward in Nigeria’s healthcare delivery system,”  Prof Amadi described environmental health as a polyvalent public health field. He said it is a complex profession but a good area public health.

    Prof Amadi said wrong priorities, lack of political will, preference for curative than preventive health, restriction of decision making to few practitioners, were some of the factors influencing environmental health practice in Nigeria.

    He explained that the implications of environmental health included social misery, widespread damage to human health, pollution to the living environment and water resources, depressed economic productivity

    Prof Amadi said when properly managed, good environmental health could result in decrease in mortality and morbidity rates of sanitation-related diseases; increase in productivity and reduction of poverty, improvement of nutrition and the physical mental growth of children; improvement of school enrolment, attendance and performance; and increase in the survival of people living with HIV/AIDS, among others.

    On the way forward, Prof Amadi called on government and stakeholders to exercise the will-power to do what is right and urgent, adding that decision making in the health sector should be open to many practitioners in the field.

    He also recommended that current environmental health services facilities should be upgraded and  new ones be built.

    In his closing remark, Vice Chancellor, Prof CC Asiabaka  thanked the lecturer for his contributions in the field of environmental health practice in Nigeria.

  • Don advocates viable policy on healthcare delivery

    The Provost of College of Health Sciences, the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Prof. Ayotunde Omotoso, has advocated strong policies that will enhance healthcare delivery in Nigeria.

    He also urged government at all levels to give priority attention to the health of the people.

    Prof. Omotoso, who spoke in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, during the induction ceremony of 114 fresh doctors of the college, said many viable health programmes have been designed by government. These should be well documented with a practicable implementation strategy in order to benefit the society.

    He said: “Social factors may directly or indirectly impact negatively on the health of individuals and the populace. For example, poverty and ignorance affect access to and maximisation of available healthcare services. Also, bad roads prevent quick access to the hospitals and lack of power may cause avoidable delays in surgical procedures.

    “The recent security challenges, namely kidnappings and terrorism, discourage doctors in the Diaspora from contributing their quota to national development.

    “The 21st Century doctor has to tackle health problems that are both individual and universal. A quick glance at the Nigerian healthcare system immediately reveals some of its strengths and weaknesses. The challenges with the health sector may well be a vista into a population-sized systemic defect.

    “While the medical training indeed is adequate and comparable with global standard, nothing quite insulates the doctor in Nigeria from the Herculean task brought about by extraneous factors. It is a social situation to which we must all rise against, putting all sufficiently trained hands on decks.

    “In Africa’s most populous nation, about 100 million people live on less than a dollar per day. The relationship between the economy and the health system is bi-directional. Many factors culminate into the health of citizens, underscoring the need for inter-sectoral collaboration.”

  • Diamond Bank provides financial support for firms

    Do you face financial constraint in running your healthcare facility?

    Good News. Diamond bank is providing “medi-loan” for for entrepreneurs in healthcare sector to help them improve on their operating standard.

    Dr Uzoma Dozie, the Deputy Managing Director (DMD) of Diamond Bank, said the loan is to provide financial support for healthcare enterprise, “because the sector lacks access to capital and this initiative allows for free advisory services to improve the operating standard of the healthcare sector in Nigeria.”

    Dozie broke the news at the launch of Diamond Medi-Loan Qualitycare which took place at the Lagos Oriental Hotel, Lagos, Nigeria.

    The programme will be rolled out at these regions- Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu,Akwa, Owerri and Umuahia.

    According to him  most healthcare providers do not see the sector as a business. “I am canvassing for a change of attitude where medical activities will be conducted with all seriousness with business in focus, once the right setting is achieved.

    “Any wonder Nigeria with 170 million population is far from achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and has one of the highest maternal death ratios in the world.”

    He said: “Would be beneficiaries of Medi-loan Qualitycare include clinics and hospitals either in private or public primary and secondary healthcare; pharmacy and medical laboratory practices., he said.

    Diamond Bank, he said, do not just provide lending services to customers but also provides technical assistance in terms of how to help improve the quality of its customers and how to run their businesses not only from the healthcare perspective.

    He said with the Medi-Loan, the bank will provide the customers with assistant services to manage their health and business.

    Dozie said: “the loan is mainly for the private sector but we are actually working with the public sector to provide the service. Pharma Access and Safe Care have been collaborating with the public sector to come up with the package to deliver it to private sector practitioners.”

    Dozie said to be eligible for this service, the company or oganisation must have been in the business for two years, must have proper healthcare registration.

    “The enterprise must have the willingness to work with Safe Care (quality standards), its must service at least 10 customers per day. Also, it must have no exclusive focus on affluent patients.

    “Loans that would be offered are of different categories. They include N200, 000  to N1m for starters. For small loan it is N1m to 1.6 m, medium loan N1.6m to eight million. Large loan offered to the enterprise is between N5.6m toN8m,” he said.

    Program Director of Medical Credit Fund (MCF), Uzodinma Ken Osisiogu, said MCF is the sister partner to Safe Care under Pharma Access.

    “MCF stands in the middle of three parties coming together, which is the providers, the banks and the CFM team to ensure that pre-assessment is done for the parties. MCF assesses the business to know if it will be profitable.

    He said: “Anyone coming for the loan must be in business and the business must be profitable.MCF has the responsibility to come up with the business plan and therefore hand it over to Diamond Bank who does the regular credit due diligence (CDD).

    “MCF provides the technical expertise before the individual or healthcare enterprise goes to the bank, then Safe Care implements what is in the business plan. This is done to ensure the loans will come back.”

    Osisiogu said: “Once the loan is being offered, MCF will help to assess the loan, develop the business plan and put the practice into shape and hence provide business quality training for both the staff and facilities to aid growth”.

  • Mobile healthcare services is the way to go

    SIR: With the launch of mobile healthcare service delivery in Lagos last month by MTN and the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), which was facilitated by Salt & Einstein MTS, I knew that something massive and good was coming the way of Nigerians in the area of healthcare delivery system via the mobile phone.  Nigerians have enjoyed the luxury and the basic needs of mobile phones since the inception of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) in 2001, but they have not enjoyed using the mobile phones to access healthcare services from qualified hospitals and doctors.  This is what Salt & Einstein MTS intends to achieve when it created a single platform that brought together, MTN and NHIS to provide healthcare services to millions of Nigerians connected to telecoms network.

    Health is wealth and most times people die with their ill-health either as a result of ignorance or poverty. The initiative brings service providers in the health sector, especially the HMOs and the telecoms service providers, on a single online platform that is accessible to all Nigerians. With their mobile phones, Nigerians could communicate with any HMO of their choice and get the best medical service at affordable cost. This initiative is new in Nigeria and it is not limited to telecoms operators and NHIS.

    It is open to all service providers from different sectors of the economy, using a single platform to provide services to Nigerians. Apart from healthcare service delivery, the platform could also be used to provide other social services like the cashless initiative.

    In an economy like Nigeria, where over 70 per cent of cash flow is in the informal sector, there is need to develop a business model that will address the issue.

    If we truly want to be successful as a nation, and integrate the informal sector with the formal sector, then we need to create models that will positively touch the lives of people.

    Having realized the need for a single platform that will accommodate several service providers, Salt & Einstein MTS decided to come up with a business model that can accommodate industry multiple solutions that should connect the common man. What they did was to look at the entire value chain to come up with business solutions model that will address every sector, comprising the regulator, the players and the various ecosystems. The initiative, no doubt, will give Nigerians access to affordable and innovative healthcare programmes, via the mobile phone, and at the same time place the country on the same pedestal with countries adjudged to have universal healthcare delivery system.

    • Jude Okafor,

    Ojodu, Lagos.

  • So many paths to healthcare

    IN our times, health care has taken a turn towards comprehensive and independent care.  When they have no doctor, for many ill patients, they are not exactly stuck.  Truly some lives are lost when doctors are on strike, or in rural areas that a doctor cannot be reached quickly enough, or for other reasons that they fail to get treatment from a doctor.  Nowadays, we can receive health care through various health professionals.  Only doctors can officially diagnose and write prescriptions but healthcare can be provided by various health professionals in emergency and various cases.

    A health care provider or health worker may be a medical doctor (physician, clinician), a dentist, a medical assistant or assistant medical officer, midwife, a nurse, a pharmacist, or an allied health professional such as a physiotherapist, a radiographer, an optometrist, an acupuncturist, a public/community health professional, an occupational therapist, a mind-body therapist,  a traditional practitioner, a herbalist, an allopathic doctor, a traditional birth attendants, or any other alternative medicine practitioner. Physicians come in their varieties: an intern, a psychiatrist, a surgeon, an ophthalmologist, a radiologist, a cardiologist, a dermatologist, a pediatrician, a gynecologist, etc. Amongst health institutions (or establishments or facilities) arehospitals, clinics, primary carecentres, and the traditional practitioner clinic or shrine.

    A doctor colleague of mine was commenting on the doctors’ strike in Nigeria coinciding with a deadly epidemic of ebola hemorrhagic fever.  Hardly anyone can doubt that, if doctors were on duty in public hospitals, perhaps many of them would have been claimed by the epidemic.  Unfortunately, the flip side of the story is that non-epidemic patients also need health care.  In the world of today, beyond having so many different kinds of health care providers, we have also becomehealth-“wise” through Internet health care providers.

    There is a fantastic wealth of information on the web. If you have a problem and study the symptoms,you can go to www.patient.co.uk: Symptom Checker. Type in the symptoms and look through the information that comes up to get an idea of what may be wrong with you. Then you can try a doctor online.  You can go to Sharecare (http://www.sharecare.com).  They say: “All you have to do is ask a question, and a panel of medical experts give you the answers. You can also check out the topic pages to learn more about things like fitness, weight loss, healthy eating, diabetes, HPV and more”. Another online access to a doctor is: www.askthedoctor24.co.uk/‎.  This is an Online Medical Advice – Email consultation with a UK Doctor‎. Then there are those medical websites that teach you like in a classroom and really in lay-man language (no medical Latin, Greek, or jargon) so that you can understand.  MedlinePlus (www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/) from the US National Library of Medicine is a very professional public educator.

    Once you identify your health problem and if you really want detail about the health problem, go to WebMD (www.webmd.com/). If you get lost at WebMD because of the details, go to the‎Mayo Clinic  (www.mayoclinic.org/).  You can actually also contact them by phone.  Another source of health information is MedicineNet  (www.medicinenet.com/).  They give information that help you make informed decision about your condition.Healthline (www.healthline.com/) is another site that gives you medical Information and  trusted health advice.  If you find a medical or health website and you want to know if it is trustworthy, you can check if it is certified by Health On the Net Foundation.  That can give you a clue that they are serious.If you want information related to travelling to different parts of the world and health preparedness, try CDC-Traveler’s Health (http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel).  A website where doctors learn how to prepare for natural disasters and emergencies may also be of help for personal information: Ready.gov(http://www.ready.gov).  You see how much the Internet is helping us these days so that when you don’t have a doctor, you don’t have to get stuck.

     

    Dr. ‘Bola John is a biomedical scientist based in Nigeria and in the USA.   For any comments or questions on this column, please email bolajohnwritings@yahoo.com or call 08160944635

  • Man boosts healthcare delivery in Ogun State

    Man boosts healthcare delivery in Ogun State

    A concerned citizen has boosted healthcare delivery in three local government areas in Ogun State when he donated equipment worth several millions of naira to public hospitals. ERNEST NWOKOLO reports.

    The healthcare facilities in the state – owned public hospitals and clinics in the three local government areas of Ijebu North-East, Ijebu East and Ogun Waterside received a boost as a concerned citizen donated equipment worth several millions of naira to them.

    The donor Alhaji Olubiyi Ismail, who gave out the equipment in Ijebu – Ife for distribution to the healthcare centres in the 32 wards of the beneficiary – three local government areas, said the rationale behind his gesture was to support the effort of Governor Ibikunle Amosun in the healthcare sector through Public Private Partnership (PPP).

    The equipment which include electric and manual beds, electronic and manual peadiatric mattresses,  peadiatric scales for new born babies, crutches, wheel chairs, examination tables among others, are to be distributed to the Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs).

    Ismail, who is eyeing the House of Representatives seat for the councils in 2015 on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said he was compelled to make the donation when it dawned on him that the state government alone cannot do it alone

    He said: “what prompted this idea was one of my visits to the health centre in Ijebu East,  I wasn’t happy with the standard of equipment and facility there and I took it upon myself  to donate the bit that I can do to the society. I have to do it in order to improve the quality of service delivery in the health sector of my community.

    “There are identified gaps in terms of infrastructural development within the state in so many years, but the governor has come in the last three years and he has been here to do the best he could. But as a citizen of the state, I have to support his cause. That is why this community empowerment is coming up. It is not as if what is in the state already is so good to be satisfied with, but we need to improve on what is on ground.

    “I’m looking at the health sector because I’ve seen lapses. Right now I see the health sector as being an important place to make a change. Someone can come tomorrow and look at educational sector. If different politicians can look at different sectors without us all doing the same thing all over again like we’re re-inventing the wheel, we will move forward.”