Tag: Oyo State government

Oyo State Government has announced plans to upgrade 66 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) across the state, with at least two facilities in each of the 33 local governments set for revitalisation.

Addressing a stakeholders’ meeting yesterday in Ibadan, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, said the revitalisation of PHCs was a fundamental step in improving health care delivery at the grassroots level.

She said the initiative would ensure the provision of essential amenities needed for effective primary health care services.

“Primary Healthcare Centres serve as the first point of contact for medical care, making their efficiency crucial to the overall health care system. The government cannot do it alone; community involvement is key to sustaining these facilities. We urge stakeholders to take ownership and support this initiative for long-term success,” she said.

The Managing Director of First Health Dynamic Synergy International Ltd, Prof. Temitope Alonge, said three key criteria were used in selecting the PHCs for upgrade in each local government.

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According to him, “the first criterion is the patient load. The two PHCs serving the largest population in each local government were prioritised. The second criterion is category 2 or 3 PHCs, while the third criterion is for facilities with an existing borehole and an alternative power source.”

He noted that the project would involve infrastructural improvements and provision of medical equipment such as installation of a 10KVA solar inverter system and borehole to ensure uninterrupted power and water supply.

The medical equipment supply of essential medical devices will include autoclave machines with gas cylinders, among others.

The upgrade will also include the implementation of a Drug Revolving Fund to ensure a steady supply of essential medicines. Security enhancement of the facilities will also be included in the upgrade.

Prof. Alonge urged Ward Development Committees (WDCs) and PHC Coordinators to take responsibility for the facilities, stressing that they belonged to the communities rather than the Primary Healthcare Board.

He said a shift in mindset towards ownership and accountability would be crucial in maintaining improved centres.

Alonge added that the same meeting would be replicated in other zones across the state for the WDC chairmen and PHC coordinators.

He said the health care centre upgrade stakeholders meeting was scheduled for March 4 and to end today.

“The three-day meeting will also focus on sustainable drug revolving funds, security of the primary health care centres, funding of primary health care services, infection control, health and safety in the PHCS, nursing process and nursing presence in the PHCS, documentation and health records, electronic medical record system, Point of Care Testing (POCT) for Malaria, Hepatitis, HIV/Syphilis, Typhoid, etc., handling haemoglobinometers and glucometers, medication dispensing and autoclaving and sterilisation techniques.

Oyo State Government has announced its readiness to clamp down on traders selling by the roadsides.

It said steps were being taken to address street trading and others.

The Chairperson of Oyo State Rule of Law Enforcement Authority (OYRLEA), Justice Aderonke Aderemi (rtd.), said this while participating in a radio programme that highlights the activities, achievements and prospects of the state government tagged: ‘Oro Oyo’.

She urged citizens to embrace lawfulness and desist from display of goods on walkways and roadsides, ‘’as this now attracts fines and penalties with immediate enforcement.’’

Justice Aderemi said: ‘‘We need to maintain a clean environment, orderliness, coordination and sustainability of the infrastructural architecture of the state, to attract foreign and local investors for the social-economic development of our state.”

She noted that it had become worrisome having to spend hours in traffic caused by illegal display of wares by the roads, thereby impeding traffic flow, coupled with the negative and harmful effects street trading was having on the lives of residents and state’s image.

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She said: “Roadside traders should get ready to face the full weight of the law and instant legal consequences.

“The enforcement team from OYRLEA, in collaboration with Oyo State Road Traffic Management Authority and Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources will be deployed to carry out an all-around operation on intense sensitisation and awareness drive in major market areas such as  Bodija, Sanngo, New Bola Ige, Oje, Gate, Dugbe, Challenge-Orita, Aleshinloye, Eleyele, Akobo-General Gas, Bashorun, among others.

“Town criers will move round with the team to create awareness before enforcement will then take place.”

She says it is now illegal to dump refuse on road medians, roundabouts, drainage channels and gutters.

Oyo State Government has approved the recruitment of about 791 officers of cadres into the mainstream of its civil service.

Civil Service Commission Chairman, Alhaji Kamoru Aderibigbe, said the recruitment would encompass the absorption of 213 education officers and 561 officers.

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He told reporters: “This recruitment will be the highest into the mainstream of the civil service in the last two decades.

“I believe we could have had more, but for the fact that the governor has constantly approved the conversion of officers, who were employed into the lower cadres in the civil service by the previous administration, but possessed higher educational qualifications.’’

Oyo State Government has reviewed the promotion of 1,629 workers, including nurses who were adversely affected by administrative error during the 2017-2020 promotion exercise.

The government also approved the prayers of the Head of Service, Mrs Olubunmi Oni, for the reinstatement of 47 civil servants, who were wrongfully dismissed during the last administration.

The decisions were part of the resolve reached at the Executive Council (Exco) meeting held at the Exco Chamber of the Governor’s Office, State Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan.

Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Prince Dotun Oyelade, said the government equally pardoned 124 workers, who were dismissed in 2012.

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He added that 823 workers, who were dismissed by the previous administration on the grounds of fake certificates submission, had their dismissal upheld, while 180 workers, who were employed at the twilight of the exit of the last administration in 2019, had their termination approved by the Exco.

The commissioner said the Exco approved N25million as compensation for the composers of the state anthem, ‘Asiwaju Ni Wa.’

He said in approving the compensation, Governor Seyi Makinde acknowledged the initiative and foresightedness of the wife of the former governor, Mrs Florence Ajimobi.

“Additionally, the composers will be given a parcel of land each, have streets named after them.”

While the Ministry of Information and Orientation will produce a documentary on the history behind the state anthem.

“’Asiwaju Ni Wa’ became the official anthem of the state about a decade ago without any form of compensation for the composers which made the Exco to set up a committee last year,” Oyelade said.

He said Exco approved presentation by the Commissioner for Public Works, Prof. Daud Sangodoyin, for road markings, kerbs painting and patching on designated roads in Ibadan metropolis through direct-labour intervention, adding that the kerbs would be painted in Oyo State colours.

He said the meeting also approved three bills for transmission to the House of Assembly, as presented by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Abiodun Aikomo.

They include: Oyo State College of Health Sciences and Technology Bill, 2024; Oyo State Flood Management Agency Bill, 2024 and Oyo State Drug and Health Commodity Management Agency Bill 2024.

According to the commissioner, the bills are expected to have a positive impact on the state’s health care system, infrastructure and overall development.

• Seals off shop of suspected perpetrator

Oyo State Government has condemned the destruction of a portion on the newly rehabilitated Olusoji-WCCI road, a few days after it was opened for public use.

The government said it has sealed off the shop where the vehicle that damaged the road offloaded its goods.

A viral video of the destroyed portion of the road surfaced at the weekend.

Reacting, the Chairman, Oyo State Road Maintenance Agency, Busoye Ogunlade, said he was aware of the incident, where a truck carrying over 60 tonnes of cement destroyed the portion, after brake failure.

Ogunlade, who expressed disappointment at how the truck driver took to his heels after the destruction, described it as a cowardly act.

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“The agency is in receipt of a report on vandalism on the newly rehabilitated road, particularly the unfortunate incident of destruction of a part of the Olusoji-WCCI road by a truck driver, who is at large as we speak.

“The agency condemns in the strongest terms this ruthless destruction of the first phase of Olusoji-WCCI road, as a deliberate act of sabotage on a key link road that has immense socio-economic benefits to the state and indeed the entire nation,” he said.

Ogunlade said the road that was completed last week is one of the state’s projects intended to bridge the gap in the road infrastructure yearnings of the people of the area.

He appreciated the residents of the area for their concern, assuring them that the destroyed portion of the road had been fixed almost immediately.

He said a technical team was immediately deployed to inspect, evaluate and reinstate the damaged parts of the road, adding that the building, where the truck offloaded the cement, has been shut.

The chairman added that henceforth, the agency would ensure perpetrators of such acts faced the full wrath of the law.