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Tag: sector

  • Overhaul of ‘death’ sector

    This is a column that seeks to mould, shape societal values  and  protect the interests of consumers, citizens and touch other broader relevant topics under the column: ‘TRUE VALUE 360’. It is an interactive column as suggestions, complaints; day to day experiences are welcome.

    This week’s edition is STARVATION AND THE COMMON MAN.

    Some analysts have propounded various theories about Nigeria being an accident waiting to happen or an accident happened already or that we will break up by a particular date etcetera, etcetera but we thank God we are still standing today and will keep standing by His Grace. One of the reasons given is that Nigeria comprises of unlikely bedfellows occasioned by forced marriage of various tribes. Many issues are begging for attention but today we are looking at the topic: STARVATION AND THE COMMON MAN.

    There is a saying that a hungry man is an angry man. A hungry, angry man will never be reasonable in action and thoughts that is if he can think at all. Nigeria’s business economy to date is driven by government policies and because of the 2015 transition/ change of government process, a lot of business decisions were put on hold which had the ripple effect of making the year very hard on the citizenry. There is cash squeeze in the economy and investors are threading carefully to venture into new grounds; there has been massive disengagement in public and banking sector for various reasons, the private sector and small business enterprises are also not left out of the hopefully temporary financial and economic pains.

    Citizens without steady income have become desperate and have devised various deadly means to survive. Lagos in particular has been witnessing serious impunity in recent times. The masses get handouts or income from the middle class but the middle class are also broke at the moment, reason why the hungry masses are resorting to terrorizing citizens.

    Traffic jam in Lagos has reached an unprecedented scale and you cannot guess or predict the duration of trips to any destination in Lagos anymore.

    It is a common daily occurrence for citizens to be robbed in these traffic jams with individuals losing personal belongings such as handsets, windscreens, handbags etc in recent times. These acts are being perpetuated by petty thieves and idle touts who have no means of feeding; some of them will ordinarily not go this route but out of desperation they become criminals as unemployment rate is one of the major issues we have not been able to deal with.

    It is also common to find young men in their middle to late twenties ogling at women who are old enough to be their mothers and even grandmothers, not out of love interest but so as to get some extra feeding or survival income. These set abound everywhere from concerts, to salons, clubs and even on the streets. Our remaining values are being eroded at the twinkling of an eyelid; let us save our youths as they are our future.

    Yes, we are overwhelmed with various urgent issues, but this menace will only escalate if a temporary solution is not found immediately.

    If we cannot resort to the Bread and Circuses option, and it may be unrealistic to attain 80- 100% employment at the moment; we should endeavor to provide our own version of succor to the unemployed.  Provision of at least a meal per day (without the circus) should be considered for the unemployed in every local government either through the local government authorities or through a special agency that will ensure that the meals get to the right persons, the country can afford it. This will reduce crime rate and petty robbery. This will also create employment for new sets of personnel.

    Of course, I am not making a case for lawlessness or male prostitution here; to me it is an aberration, it is better to provide an immediate survival alternative than to leave the menace to come back to haunt us all. We already have enough on our hands in combating sophisticated crime, let’s not increase the number.

     

    Reactions are welcome.

  • DisCos: Senate tariff resolution ‘ll fail power sector

    The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) yesterday said the Senate resolution that stopped the implementation of the 2015 Multi -Year Tariff Order (MYTO) will have adverse effects on the power sector.

    According to its Executive Director, Advocacy and Research, Sunday Oduntan,  a market priced tariff is a fundamental requirement under the agreements signed between Distribution Company (DisCo) operators in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) and the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), raising the concern for sanctity of contract.

    The association in a statement, lamented that the decision will culminate in the  absence of a market priced tariff that  creates the possibility of failure by the operators.

    He said such a failure will be at a price that the government can ill-afford in these times of dire economic challenges.

    The group maintained that a market priced tariff is critical to address decades of under-investment such as the five million metering gap in the sector.

    Oduntan insisted that globally, electricity reforms have always been tied to increased investment, resulting in improved production efficiency. Such investment is predicated on access to capital which will be jeopardised in the absence of a market priced tariff, he added.

    He said the absence of a market priced tariff will endanger the viability of the entire value-chain of distributors, generators, transmission and gas suppliers, resulting in the failure of the sector.

    He said: “As the upstream operators will not receive required payment (DisCos only receive 25 per cent of the revenues associated with the tariff.

    “Failure of the sector will result in, among other things, loss of employment and livelihood for approximately 50,000 Nigerians, indirect job losses from factory and other business closures, possibly in the millions; and a related outcome of discouraging further investments in the development of gas reserves and production for local consumption; and

    “Expected performance improvement, with appropriate investment, on the other hand, will lead to a reduction of tariffs in subsequent years.  This is empirically supported.

    “Fellow Nigerians, suspending the implementation of the tariff will leave us in continued darkness, with diminished and no future prospects of growth of our economy.”

  • Badaru, Lamido and Jigawa’s health sector

    One of the beauties of democracy is the freedom of speech only that we do not allow justice and truth to be killed on the table of egotism, envy, hatred and ingratitude. I have been thinking what Jigawa government under Alhaji Muhammadu Abubakar Talamis wants to achieve by always attacking and discrediting Sule Lamido’s visible and pragmatic achievements in Jigawa.

    Instead of recognizing and appreciating what he did and continuing from where he stopped, they keep belittling him by using people to mislead the general public particularly those who have not visited Jigawa or heard of what Lamido did in the state.  A first time and even a wayfarer through Jigawa can attest to the work Lamido did in the state. Records and legacies don’t lie.

    Before the coming of the Lamido administration in 2007, the health budget of the state was never above five percent. From 2007 there was a gradual increase in the size of the budget reaching 15% in 2013 making the state the only one in the federation to attain the Abuja Declaration.

    In 2007 when Lamido took over as the governor, he introduced a decentralized and integrated district health system known as Gunduma Health System to improve access to healthcare and reach out to the rural dwellers within the limit of available resources and he succeeded.

    Lamido’s vision in the initiating Gunduma Health System, was to have a healthy and productive population in Jigawa State and to promote the health status of the people through improved integrated health care service, awareness on health and health related matters, to ensure good resource mobilization and practices with increased public – private partnership and effective participation and ownership to ensure that basic health services are made available, accessible, affordable and acceptable to the people of Jigawa State.

    This came with a number of gains including:  the revamping of the infrastructure, improvement in health care financing, strengthening of the human resource, improving health services delivery, sustaining drugs supply and equipment provision and promoting community participation and ownership. Gunduma Health System was created to focus on improving health service delivery while the state Ministry of Health maintained its stewardship role for policy direction.  Before Lamido became the governor in 2007, Jigawa State had the highest maternal and infant mortality rate in the country; the health sector then, was a sham. The Gunduma Healthcare System he initiated was messiah for entire health sector in the state.

    When Lamido took over in 2007, his administration inherited only 21 doctors, six pharmacists and less than 200 nurses/midwives in what undoubtedly showed and proved a decaying health sector. Because workers are the engine of any institution, before Lamido handed over power in May 29, 2015, there were 160 doctors, 685 nurses/midwives, 34 pharmacists – in a healthcare system having 6,136 staff strength in different cadres. What a passionate, brilliant and a caring leader!

    The health sector has witnessed improved financing options from the government since 2008. The percentage of state budgets allocated to the health sector has witnessed a sustained increase in budgetary allocation to the health sector from nine percent in 2009, 11 % in 2010, 14% in 2011 to 14% in 2012. This upward trend is due to implementation of Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) and Consolidated Medical Salary structure (CONMESS).

    The only School of Nursing in the state was operating in a local government council secretariat for almost 19 years, but because of Lamido’s prudence, and the value he placed on the health sector, built a new brand one in Birnin-Kudu which is one of the best in the country. Lamido built General and Cottage Hospitals, Primary Health Centres, Dispensaries and Health Posts, Basic Health Centres, Psychiatric Hospital, Tuberculosis and Leprosy etc. He also renovated and expanded the Rasheed Shekoni Specialist Hospital and School of Health Technology Jahun among others. At the time of handing over in May last year, Lamido’s administration left behind a total of 676 functional health facilities (Hospitals) in the state.  And there were provision of high quality free and affordable drugs in all the hospitals (medical buildings) in the state.

    The Haihuwa Lafiya programme introduced in 2008 ensured that there was 5.5 million hospital attendance in 2014, against 1.2 million in 2008; 3.3 million children seen, against 0.5 million in 2008; 35 percent pregnant women delivering in Jigawa hospitals, against only seven percent in 2007. By May last year, the rate of women attending ante-natal rose to the all-time high of 89 percent.

    Apparently, the assertion about the so-called neglect of the health sector started since the advent of the present administration in the state, especially with the retrenchment of all health casual workers in the state, stoppage of allocation to all Jigawa health institution (including free drugs to the masses) and Haifuwa Lafiya scheme, the present plan to reduce the health workers salary and other entitlements (welfare), and also the outbreak of cholera in Hara and Kafijiba villages of Dutse LGA of the state recently. As the record reads, about 40 people, most of them children, are reported to have died as a result of the outbreak of a disease suspected to be cholera. Also, the outbreak was linked to lack of good drinking water because their well in the village which served as the source of drinking water is not functioning now and there was a suspicion whether the disease was a result of contamination of drinking water.

    Today, one cannot write complete history of Primary Health Care under one roof without recourse to newly structured health system in the state which has enviably provided impetus to the general re-structuring of the health system across the nation. In fact, during Sule Lamido administration, several states visited Jigawa to study the health system or some components of the system towards adopting or adapting according to their individual peculiarities. Among the states that visited Jigawa are Bauchi, Enugu, NasarawaYobe, Bayelsa, Zamfara and Kano.

    What Sule Lamido did to Jigawa and humanity in general is a true sign of good leadership and no question about the obvious. The entire populace are convinced that the political gladiators in the state, region if not in the country cannot produce a match to Lamido in terms of political participation, his ideologies, credentials, principles and achievements.

    Jigawa before Lamido was at the peak of political, social and economic degeneration but within a short time, Lamido restored a new social order for the people. Because of the facilities provided by Sule Lamido, the socio-economic landscape of the state has changed for good. Jigawa has not only improved positively, it that can compete with many states in the country most especially in the health sector. Governor Badaru is advised to take counsel from former U.S President, Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) who said –  “Do your duty, and history will do you justice”.

    • Adamu wrote in from Kafin-Hausa, Jigawa State

  • Ganduje’s strides in education sector

    On November 30, 2015, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, OFR, Governor of Kano State proclaimed a renewed effort targeted at revolutionizing and transforming the state’s education sector into a more qualitative, vibrant, efficient and result-oriented one.

    In a well-attended event, graced by prominent and illustrious individuals and groups, Governor Ganduje, crossed into the hallowed annals of history to unveil two committees formed for the singular purpose of solving the myriads of problems besetting the education in the state.

    The twin committees, namely the State Education Promotion Committee and the Local Government Education Promotion Committee seek to work on a joint mandate to re-invigorate the state’s education sector in order to meet the requisite standard that will serve as a model to other states across the country.

    What makes the idea of these committees a laudable one is the courageous resolve of Governor Ganduje to release the sum of N10 Million to each of the 44 local government areas of the state for logistics so that they can kick start the work without delay. This brings the total amount released to the local government committees to the enormous sum of N440 million.

    In these austere times characterized by rapidly decreasing oil price and the general economic slowdown being experienced across the country, Governor Ganduje, has certainly achieved an exceptional feat that no other state is able to achieve.

    Appositely, the governor’s timely and humane decision was taken in consideration of his longstanding and deeply entrenched experience as a teacher, lecturer and a veteran administrator whose commitment to education is universally acknowledged.

    Highlighting his determination to uphold the sanctity of education, Ganduje, recalled a statement he made during his inaugural speech: “…it is universally accepted that the foundation of qualitative education starts from the basic or primary level. This administration intends to take necessary measures in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, with a view to ensuring that all children are enrolled in primary schools nearest to them as soon as they attain school age”.

    The governor’s idea of forming the education promotion committees stems from the stark reality that no matter the commitment of government to the cause of education, it cannot succeed totally without the much needed input of well-meaning individuals, groups and international humanitarian organizations.

    This is why the committees is composed of membership that cut-across public and private sectors as well as the political and traditional institutions in order to demonstrate the seriousness that the education sector commands at all levels.

    At this juncture, it is necessary to briefly introduce the committees so as to give an insight into their workings and potentials for success:

    The State Education Promotion Committee has 35 members led by Alhaji Tajuddeen Aminu Dantata as chairman. The committee is set to among other things to monitor and evaluate rehabilitation projects carried out by the local government committees; mobilize financial and material support from well-meaning groups and pay regular visits to schools with the aim of ensuring prompt attendance of pupils and teachers and monitoring quality delivery of knowledge.

    The Local Government Committee is set up in each of the 44 local government areas of the state with the leaders of the APC caucus in each of the LGAs as chairmen. Before any critic raises a hand on this, let it be quickly known that the local chairmen of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in each of the LGAs, being critical stakeholders, are also members because Dr. Ganduje understands perfectly that education is an all-inclusive venture.

    Overall both committees are expected to meet the following objectives: To rehabilitate schools for conducive learning condition, provide infrastructural materials for quality teaching, to instill discipline and punish errant staff as well as ensure adequate number of teaching personnel in schools.

    Anybody who means well for Kano would know that Ganduje has astutely set Kano on the path of unprecedented progress and development in all facets of life by taking the all-important step to reshape education in the state. Fortunately, Kano people have extra benefits to enjoy in this regard because the Deputy Governor, Professor Hafiz Abubakar who is also the Honourable Commissioner of Education will add impetus to this noble scheme.

    As a veteran academic who reached the pinnacle of his career to become a professor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC, Academics) at the reputable Bayero University, Kano (BUK), Professor Abubakar certainly possesses what it takes to turn education around.

    Although the governor and his deputy have taken the lead to re-vitalize education for the betterment of our society, we all have a collective responsibility to give them our maximum support in order to succeed.

    As Dr. Ganduje pointed out, the subsisting “policy on compulsory and free primary education poses greater challenge to our ability to achieve the objective of this all important endeavor”.

    This is because the policy does not only affect children that are already enrolled in primary schools but also the over three million Almajiri children studying in Quranic schools who also need to be absorbed into the formal education sector.

    In view of this, it is necessary to understand that the task before the Kano State government is a colossal one that requires total encouragement and support from all citizens from all walks of life. In fact, it is in appreciation of this reality that Ganduje seeks to extend his vision to other northern governors whose states are also affected by same challenges as the Almajiri Syndrome.  As he aptly stated: “This indispensable policy, a noble objective to ensure of education for all can only be achieved through tenacious and sustainable implementation of the policy of compulsory and free primary education in the state. Indeed all contiguous states across the affected regions must adopt same (policy) in order to ensure a decent life for children and unfettered access for all”.

    The setting up of the education promotion committees has come as a timely intervention borne out of Dr. Ganduje’s steadfast, dogged and extreme passion to restore dignity to education as the necessary tool for social change and the catalyst for development.

    • Kudu is Senior Assistant (Print) to Kano State Governor.

  • Senate seeks probe of $40m loan to aviation sector

    The Senate yesterday asked its joint Committee on Aviation and Anti-Corruption to investigate the disbursement and utilisation of $40 million loan alleged to have been released by the Federal Government in 2011 for the rehabilitation and development of infrastructure in the aviation industry.

    The upper chamber also mandated the same committee to probe the release of N33.55 billion in the same year for the same purpose.

    This followed the consideration and adoption of the report of the Senate ad-hoc committee on Aviation which investigated a motion on “The worrisome and unstable position of Nigerian Aviation industry.”

    The report was presented by Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano Central)

    The Senate said the Chief Executives of Aviation agencies in the country should take steps to replace aging pilots in their system.

    It said that the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) should pay more emphasis on the provision of state of the art flying equipment to enhance air safety.

    Other recommendations of the Committee adopted included that “Good leadership spirit should be inculcated by the Chief executive of aviation parastatals and other stakeholders to refurbish and maintain physical facility and equipment.

    “While the building of infrastructure in some of our airports are appreciated, NAMA and FAAN should pay more emphasis on the provision of the state of the art flying equipment that will enhance safety and assist the pilots to do their jobs professionally and confidently without endangering their lives and that of passengers, to guide against a situation where planes cannot take off and land because of poor visibility as a result of fog.”

    The Senate agreed that “because of the delicate nature of the aviation industry only qualified and properly trained people should be employed while “the chief executive of aviation parastatals, Nigeria College of Aviation Technology should put in place a programme in place to replace the aging pilots in aviation industry taking into cognisance young pilots on ground that needed a particular flying hours before they can be employed.”

    The Senate said that NAMA should be directed to henceforth stop the collection of navigational charges on all training aircrafts in Nigeria while the aviation section in federal, ministry of transport should not interfere in the day to day running of the specialised unit in the aviation industry.

    The Senate said that the federal airport authority of Nigeria (FAAN) should be directed to rehabilitate and complete all abandoned structures and pull down those that have lost their value.

  • Averting crisis in health sector in 2016

    In his all-time classic, ‘The Art of war’, Sun Tzu narrated how a lord of ancient China once asked his physician, a member of a family healers, which of them was the most skilled in the art.

    The physician, whose reputation was such that his name became synonymous with medical science in China, replied, ‘My eldest brother sees the spirit of sickness and removes it before it takes shape. He cures sickness when it is still extremely minute. As for me, I puncture veins, prescribe potions, and massage skin when sickness has already settled in, and so, from time my name gets out and is heard among the lords. And so, by this, my eldest brother is the best.

    This ancient story is the premiere classic of the science of strategy in conflict as it teaches that the peak efficiency of knowledge and strategy is to make conflict altogether unnecessary. It shows that understanding a conflict as well as taking a rational, rather than an emotional approach to the problem of conflict can lead not only to its resolution, but even to its avoidance altogether. Pride, anger and greed are the fundamental causes of disharmony. Weapons of war are inauspicious instruments, not the tools of the enlightened. Winning without having to fight is the noblest.

    Everyone believes that there is an ‘incurable’ disease afflicting our health sector. It was earlier thought of as a teething problem. After it persisted for a while, we altered our perception of it as a perennial problem and right now, it has assumed the status of a terminal, and incurable disease. But we made it so!

    The pundits have said that in a year, an average Nigerian doctor in the public health sector spends six months working and the other six on strike, defying the Hippocratic oath (that some have re-christened Hypocrites’ oath) to which they swore an unconditional allegiance.

    Their colleagues and partner in the same art (pharmacists, nurses and other health workers) are not any better, following the same vicious pattern. At some point, they turned industrial action into a relay race, passing the baton of strike over to each other as they play games with human lives, which they all swore at induction into their various professions to protect first, no matter what (except at the cost of their personal safety). Hence, they forget their humanitarian calling!

    Some years ago, I was practicing as a pharmacist in University Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti when something gory happened. Health professionals were on strike as usual, in a bid to press home demands from the state government when a sick woman, (probably pregnant too) was rushed to the hospital. On getting to the gate, they were first told that a strike action was on-going. Even though we claimed to continue to render emergency care services, the news of the strike killed the little life left in that woman, so she died at the gate! How many more such cases have happened, how many more of our fellow country men and women we have condemned to untimely death all in a bid to gratify our lusts and massage our ego or just to ‘make a statement’ to the government?

    Cataloguing the unfortunate incidents of the past or sorrowing in it will be like an east wind that blows no man any good. It is time to sit up and fix it. I belief this is very possible. How do I know? Yes, some pessimists or stoics had once thought Nigeria’s case (the polity) is beyond redemption; that the politics of ‘anywhere belle face’ will continue to have it, till kingdom come, until the 2015 general elections that proved them all wrong.

    Successive governments have tried without success to heal the public health sector. They failed because they were only using Dane gun to hunt mother elephant or attempting to cure metastatic cancer with Chinese balm! They came up with cosmetic solutions which only lasted as long as cosmetics do. They tried to change the fruits without first working on the roots. Little wonder those quick fix solutions never worked, or seemed to work for a while before another bigger problem erupted.

    To overcome a challenge, we must first of all understand it. We must go back in time to the era of no challenge, see where the challenge came in and how. Why other nations don’t have the same challenges as we do and see how to apply (domesticate) their methods to our situation. Some may criticize this as a neo-colonialism, but we shouldn’t give a dog a bad name because we want to hang it. Such should recall that the books we used in both secondary and tertiary schools were also written by them and we use the principles set forth in those books in practice and get good results. These are not matters of morality, which we can derive from Holy Scriptures. They are evidence-based, scientifically proved principles and we must apply them to our own situation in management to achieve any success.

    Now, they say a fool is he that does the same thing and expects a different result. You cannot clean a plate with dirty hand. Unfortunately in Nigeria, we appoint people to positions as policy makers, permanent secretaries, ministers, etc without an in depth drilling and grilling. Appointments are usually based on good political standing and networks of influence and individual has; and we think we’re going somewhere? Never. It will take some miracle of sort for that to happen.

    In all policy making positions, and more so in multi-disciplinary positions like in health industry, a thorough evaluation of individual’s antecedents is needed before giving them sensitive and decisive responsibilities. Their history from primary school, secondary level and tertiary institution; their professional history, relationship with other colleagues in allied disciplines over their career span, antecedents in leadership at all levels interdisciplinary conviviality personal and professional philosophies must be looked at very closely.

    As long as we continue to appoint individuals with adversarial philosophies as policy makers in health ministry, and not those with ‘esprit de corps’, we can only brace up for more crises in the sector; as they will only fan the embers of discord and compound the sectoral woes. They will continue to hold secret meetings with a particular group of health professionals and instigate them against others and even the government! And we said we are going forward? Never! It does not work out that way.

    I partially agree with the philosophy that you don’t appoint a Nigerian referee as umpire in a game that involves Nigeria and another country because, as long as blood runs in his veins, he will be prejudiced towards his fatherland. So, in this wisdom, a neutral umpire is usually appointed. But while the administration of health ministry is not a game, so to say, as that will give it an adversarial outlook, individuals to serve in policy making positions MUST be able to act rationally rather than emotionally on issues. They must detach themselves emotionally from their primary constituencies (their own personal professional fields), and act for the general good of all and in the best interest of the nation. It is only an irrational mind that will oppose a rational stance (not decisions or actions motivated by personal and emotional prejudice) and such a one need not be taken seriously.

    This kind of mind-set and approach will help avert crises in health sector altogether.

    In his address to Americans at the height of great economic depression of 1983, Ronald Reagan came out bold as he declared that the government could not address the economic problem on ground because the government itself was the problem! Did you get it?

    So, when lay people comment ignorantly, like Senator Godswill Akpabio recently did on shortage of residency positions for doctors, I just laughed at the height of his ignorance on such issues. He did not ask the policy makers whether they follow the terms on length of Residency Training first. The six-year term spelt out in the rule of engagement for the programme is flagrantly flouted as some people have been residents for over 10 years and still counting! Tell me then where and how new doctors will come in when the old students refuse to graduate and the institutions do nothing?

    When we begin to do things right, then we begin to get it right and the earlier we begin, the better, for harmony and prosperity for all.

    • Pharm. Olalekan writes from Airport Road, Abuja

  • Fed Govt urged to explore non-oil sector for job creation

    Experts have said lots of jobs can be created through the exportation of non oil produce. They urged the Federal Government on effective Export Expansion Grant (EEG) to encourage investors in the value chain process.

    Speaking with reporters at the 2015 Money for Business Conference organised by Success Edge at the weekend in Lagos, the Managing Director of Success Edge International Limited, Mr. Godwin Oyefeso said there are lots of job opportunities in the non oil export value chain, adding that the  suspension of the EEG scheme by government has generated several criticisms from agro-processors and players in the value-addition sector. He  described it as a disincentive and encouragment to raw commodities’ exportation.

    “In assisting the exportation of non-oil products, government came up with EEG to give up to about N5 million but was increased to N10 million. It was stopped under the last administration and since then, things have not been going on well. But basically, the government has EEG and it is not a loan, it is a grant but the scheme has been stopped but we believe with the present administration, there is every need for it to be revived and be given to exporters,” he said.

    According to Oyefeso, with the decline in crude oil prices in the international market, government is looking for a way to diversify the economy by going into exploitation of agro commodities and solid minerals.

  • Ex-minister scores health sector high

    A former Health minister in the Jonathan administration Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu has given the health sector a pass mark.

    Speaking at the Moses Adekoyejo Majekodunmi Foundation yearly lecture in Lagos, the ex-minister said: “We are making progress in the health sector.’’ He, however, urged the private sector to partner the government, adding: “Everything cannot be done by the government.’’

    Chukwu, who spoke on the topic New National Health Bill, described the Act as the best thing to happen to the country.

    He listed some of its salient areas as provision of additional funding for primary health by at least one per cent from federal revenue; right of Nigerians to universal health coverage; empowering  health ministers and state commissioners to, for example, to decide which civil servants qualified for medical tourism and “Every tertiary hospitals will now be regulated.’’

    He urged the government to muster the political will to execute the National Health Act, adding that if well done, Nigerians would benefit immensely from it.

    Chukwu praised the Jonathan administration for giving birth to the bill, which, he said, was initiated by the Umaru Yar’Adua administration. He called for a quick constitution of the National Health Council that would disburse the funds by next year. He asked President Muhammadu Buhari to increase the funding from the statutory one per cent to about five, saying he is constitutionally empowered to

    do so.

    Chukwu advised tertiary hospitals to also partner private hospitals, which have better personnel and equipment, if the aim is to assist the cause of the people.

    Health commissioner Lagos State Dr Jide Idris urged those seeking free medical health to have a rethink, as the system was ‘’bastardised’’ in the past. He however said the government would continue to cater for the poor, noting that public health delivery for them is mandatory.

    He said though the budget for health increased between 1999 and this year from two per cent to about nine per cent, over five per cent of the fund went into personnel. He canvassed a pool where the government, corporate bodies and individuals could contribute for the benefit of all.

    Eminent medic, Prof O. O. Akinkugbe, who chaired the occasion, criticised the National Health Insurance Scheme, saying: “It appears ‘’a little sophisticated for those in the rural  areas’’ and that as such some of the people might not be able to afford it.

    He praised St Nicholas Hospital founded by the late Dr Majekodunmi for its giant strides in the sector.

  • Overhaul of ‘death’ sector

    This is a column that seeks to mould, shape societal values and to protect the interests of consumers, citizens and touch other broader relevant topics under the column: ‘TRUE VALUE 360’. It is an interactive column as suggestions, complaints; day to day experiences are welcome.

    This week’s edition is STARVATION AND THE COMMON MAN

    Some analysts have propounded various theories about Nigeria being an accident waiting to happen or an accident happened already or that we will break up by a particular date etcetera, etcetera but we thank God we are still standing today and will keep standing by His Grace. One of the reasons given is that Nigeria comprises of unlikely bedfellows occasioned by forced marriage of various tribes. Many issues are begging for attention but today we are looking at the topic: STARVATION AND THE COMMON MAN.

    There is a saying that a hungry man is an angry man. A hungry, angry man will never be reasonable in action and thoughts that is if he can think at all. Nigeria’s business economy to date is driven by government policies and because of the 2015 transition/ change of government process, a lot of business decisions were put on hold which had the ripple effect of making the year very hard on the citizenry. There is cash squeeze in the economy and investors are threading carefully to venture into new grounds; there has been massive disengagement in public and banking sector for various reasons, the private sector and small business enterprises are also not left out of the hopefully temporary financial and economic pains.

    Citizens without steady income have become desperate and have devised various deadly means to survive. Lagos in particular has been witnessing serious impunity in recent times. The masses get handouts or income from the middle class but the middle class are also broke at the moment, reason why the hungry masses are resorting to terrorizing citizens.

    Traffic jam in Lagos has reached an unprecedented scale and you cannot guess or predict the duration of trips to any destination in Lagos anymore.

    It is a common daily occurrence for citizens to be robbed in these traffic jams with individuals losing personal belongings such as handsets, windscreens, handbags etc in recent times. These acts are being perpetuated by petty thieves and idle touts who have no means of feeding; some of them will ordinarily not go this route but out of desperation they become criminals as unemployment rate is one of the major issues we have not been able to deal with.

    It is also common to find young men in their middle to late twenties ogling at women who are old enough to be their mothers and even grandmothers, not out of love interest but so as to get some extra feeding or survival income. These set abound everywhere from concerts, to salons, clubs and even on the streets. Our remaining values are being eroded at the twinkling of an eyelid; let us save our youths as they are our future.

    Yes, we are overwhelmed with various urgent issues, but this menace will only escalate if a temporary solution is not found immediately.

    If we cannot resort to the Bread and Circuses option, and it may be unrealistic to attain 80- 100% employment at the moment; we should endeavor to provide our own version of succor to the unemployed.  Provision of at least a meal per day (without the circus) should be considered for the unemployed in every local government either through the local government authorities or through a special agency that will ensure that the meals get to the right persons, the country can afford it. This will reduce crime rate and petty robbery. This will also create employment for new sets of personnel.

     

    Of course, I am not making a case for lawlessness or male prostitution here; to me it is an aberration, it is better to provide an immediate survival alternative than to leave the menace to come back to haunt us all. We already have enough on our hands in combating sophisticated crime, let’s not increase the number.

     

    Reactions are welcome.

  • BoI reaffirms commitment to real sector financing

    BoI reaffirms commitment to real sector financing

    Bank of Industry (BoI) has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through sustainable funding schemes that would further stimulate industrialisation.

    BoI Managing Director Rasheed Olaoluwa made this known in Lagos, at the weekend, when it joined other nations to commemorate this year’s African Industrialisation Day.

    The Africa Industrialisation Day is celebrated on November 20 each year to assist governments and other organisations in many African countries examine ways to stimulate industrialisation, while drawing attention to its challenges in the continent.

    This year’s African Industrialisation Day had the theme: “SMEs for poverty Eradication and Job Creation for Women and Youth”.

    United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon had stated that many African economies had shown impressive growth rates in recent years, but increased prosperity had not always translated into inclusive wealth creation.

    According to him, far too often, economic development depends on the extraction of natural resources and  low-skilled labour.

    He noted that, “Africa needs a green, clean industrialisation that leapfrogs out-dated, polluting processes and platforms and benefits from new technologies. Inclusive and sustainable industrialisation is a key stepping stone towards sustained economic growth, food security and poverty eradication in Africa.”

    Olaoluwa said the bank, as part of measures to ensure its impact is felt in the economy, developed a five-year Strategic Plan from 2015-2019 to address challenges with funding the nation’s industrial-isation agenda.

    According to him, the strategic initiative has seen the bank move from the introduction of several innovative financing schemes to the appointment of 122 Business Development Service Providers (BDSPs) to facilitate SMEs’ access to loans as well as the reduction of non-performing loans from 18 per cent to less than five per cent.

    Noting that BoI has been improving SMEs’ operational efficiency with an upgrade of its system and introduction of mobile applications, Olaoluwa stressed that the developments imply that Nigeria must join the rest of the world to become an industrialised nation by harnessing the potential in various sectors while engaging youths to become entrepreneurs.

    His words: “BoI is trying to achieve a balance in its functions as a development finance institution in terms of  delivering social impact and maintaining a sustainable economic development. An innovative approach is required to tackle this social malaise of graduate unemployment that has engulfed the country.”

    He explained that the BoI’s recent ‘Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund’ strategy was to identify the innate talents of these young graduates as soon as they leave school, build their capacities for self-reliance. It was also intended to empower them to establish their own businesses, thereby creating jobs not just for themselves, but also for other youths that they may employ.

    “We are confident that key shareholders  in the National Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) initiative like the Ministry of Finance Incorporated and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will continue to support the bank with some equity injection. But considering the fact that there is a lot of demand on government’s resources, we are exploring alternative modes of funding such as continuation of sector specific intervention funds by the CBN, Ministry of Agriculture, Solid Minerals and others,” Olaoluwa said.

    He added that the bank was looking at managed funds from various state governments and foundations; including long-term loans at very low interest rates from multi lateral/international development institutions.

    With operational efficiency serving as a key benchmark, Olaoluwa said the bank is automating a lot of its processes to give SMEs the opportunity to be served better.