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Lack Of Policy Implementations is Nigeria’s Health System Challenge-CHR

Published

5 years ago

April 25, 2019

…Calls on FG for the immediate release of N51 billion Health Care Provision Fund

Joel Ajayi

Community Health and Research CHR have said a lack of sustained implementation of various interventions fund geared toward improving women’s and children and quality of life in Nigeria remained the cog in the wheel growth of the health sector in Nigeria.

This even as the project advisor community health and research initiate called on the federal government for speedy disbursement of the Health Care Provision Fund lying fallow in the cover of the ministry of health for effective and efficiently Health Service delivery in the country.

The Health initiative made this known on Thursday in Abuja during a stakeholder deliberation toward building a common Agenda: drive towards achieving Nigeria’s FP2020 and EWEC commitments.

Nigeria’s FP2020 and EWEC commitment initiative has been identified as the potentials for advancing Nigeria’s drive toward reducing maternal and infant mortality and hence improve maternal and child health.

Speaking at the event the Deputy Chair National House of Representatives Health Committee Hon Mohammad Usman said that the health indices in Nigeria is still poor and there is a need for all hands to be on deck to improve maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health in the country.

According to him, this is one of the issues that are affecting our health sector in the country, so many funds has been allocated to the health sector including the financial, technical and material from a number of national and international agencies but because of lack of an initiative like this to track the implementation most of the fund are not channel to the project they meant for.

“I believe that government needs to have something like this to help to monitor its commitment and to be able to know where we are. As matter of the fact, health indices are still very low in Nigeria. The issue mortality rate of children under 5 is still very high, almost on a daily basis almost about 3,000 women died while over 1,145 children died on a daily basis this translate into millions of lives lost annually.

“And every year, the governments have come out with various policies and programs which need mercenaries or tool of measuring the releases of funds, because except you monitor releases of you wouldn’t know what has really been push into the system so, this tracker which is new initiatives will help to really know where we are in terms of commitment on the side of the government.”

When asked on the state of health sector in the country, Member of the Nigeria Green Chamber replied: “Well, there are so many constraints, so many challenges as far as I am concerned the federal ministry of health has not been doing very well because the only way you can really measure the performance of the federal ministry of health is to what extent has health income improve? to what extent has the lives of Nigerian been save? so, as long as people are dying, millions on the annual basis what would you say, there has not been a meaningful achievement in the health system as far as I am concern, any life is very important to do we say that the agency responsible for that is doing very well? to me capital no.”

Speaking shortly after the programme, the coordinator of Project Advisor Community Health and Research Initiate, Dr Aminu Magashi said that the essence of the meeting is to support the Nigerian government and the 36 governors to track progress in addressing family planning and also every woman, every child.

“What does that mean? it means that our annual health budget needs to be tracked every year from allocation, releases, disbursement and performance, we need to also track the basic health care provision fund.

“As we speak, last year, 55bilion was allocated for the provision fund and this year also in the 2019 budget 51billion is allocated. We have to track this money to know where it’s going and how it will impact on the lives of the people of Nigeria.

“From what we have tracked for far, the basic health care provision fund. 25 per cent of that money has been released to the Federal Ministry of Health to a dedicated CBN account, that money is still sitting in the account, it has not been disbursed to the state government and also to agencies that are supposed to deliver it means the money is not useful for now, because of it still inside the account, so we are calling on the FG to hasten the disbursement and also ensure accountability of the spending of this funding.

When asked how many weeks those fund supposed to stay in CBN cover, he replied: “it shouldn’t last more than four weeks; it should be disbursed to the gateway and in the gateway, it should not stay more than two weeks and up till now the money is still staying in the government account.

“So we are calling the government and also remember that 5 per cent of that money is for emergency made safe services to deploy ambulances by the roadside, I have not seen any ambulance in our major road in Nigeria so that any accident victims are catered for.” He said.

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RMRDC: Making Giant Strides Under Prof. Nnanyelugo Martins Ike-Muonso

Published

6 hours ago

September 19, 2024

The Gleamer

By Joel Ajayi

As we embark on a journey, we always pray for an able, experienced, and courageous driver, pilot, or sailor depending on the means of transportation.

This is because the captain will have enough experience and boldness to navigate out of turbulence and to bring all the passengers and crew to the intended destination.

Interestingly, these fine qualities of ability, experience, boldness, and many more, abound in the man, Prof. Nnanyelugo Martins Ike-Muonso, who we all are pleased was appointed the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, RMRDC, the Director General/CEO by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu a few months ago. This is because he has brought his knowledge, ability, experience, and doggedness to bear in carrying out his assignment in charge of the Council.

The RMRDC, operating under the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology, is pivotal in driving Nigeria’s industrial growth by optimizing local raw materials exploitation, development, and utilization. RMRDC, ab initio, was conceived as a child of necessity when Nigeria was reeling from the throes of global recession and plummeting crude oil prices.

Without an iota of doubt, today, the council is experiencing a transformation with massive innovation in raw material exploitation, development, and utilization, supporting business and industrial growth, and contributing to Nigeria’s economic prosperity.

Speaking during a press briefing on Tuesday, in Abuja to commemorate his 100 days in office, he said the council is laying a solid foundation through numerous innovations that will further enhance growth in the country.

According to him, “In the past 100 days, my strategic pursuits have been to lay solid foundations for enduring success in these goals.

“Upon assuming this position, I set five crucial deliverables which include, refocusing the Council as a premier research institution; Strengthening the Council’s productivity and operational efficiency; and Significantly improving the staff welfare to be the best in the class of similar organizations.

“Others include, Boosting the Council’s visibility and instituting remarkable culture change that encourages ownership and productivity as well as Strengthening and deepening the Council’s place in the international arena.”While speaking on his Achievements so far, the DG revealed further: “My first task, therefore, was to implement a strategic goal-setting for the Council’s staff to define and set out clear objectives and targets to be achieved by the Council within a specified period towards refocusing on this historical mandate. We unleashed five significant initiatives in that regard.

“The nationwide raw material data collection exercise that focused on technical and investment information to drive our mission forward.

“The restructuring and renaming of the former Technology Innovation Complex (TIC), at the Obasanjo Space Center at Airport Road, Abuja, to a Research and Demonstration Plants Complex (RDPC). This complex will be Africa’s first center of excellence in raw material research, featuring state-of-the-art laboratories, technology development workshops, and proof of concept demonstrations.

“We have reactivated the Council’s Journal and repositioned it internationally. The repositioned Journal of Raw Material Research (JORMAR) will host RMRDC’s researchers’ publications, which are crucial in promoting awareness, facilitating knowledge sharing, and informing stakeholders about the opportunities and challenges in Nigeria’s raw materials sector. “The collaboration with universities and academies will strengthen our capacity for conducting market-guided research, ensuring sustained workforce training while deepening our orientation in science.

“The council has reformulated a new template for all our research proposals to ensure and sustain a clear departure from the old culture of blue-sky and deliberately endless research.”Speaking further, Prof Nwanyelugo Martins Ike-Muonso stated that Staff welfare remains a top priority as an issue of unpaid salaries is settled as well as set up a comprehensive welfare program. “Similarly, we established the RMRDC Training School to sustainably build our staff and stakeholders’ capacity to further the staff welfare improvement goal.

“We are committed to openness, inclusiveness, and performance management and have initiated steps to continuously improve staff ownership, orchestrate transformative culture change, boost our corporate visibility, and enhance.

“To further strengthen our visibility and communication strategies, we are upgrading our media infrastructure, which includes the launch of the RMRDC online media platform, The RMRDC TV Online.

“Additionally, we are working hard to effectively enhance the intellectual property and patent portfolio of RMRDC from its current 40 to approximately 200 new patents within the next 24 months. This proactive approach secures valuable IP assets and positions the Council as a leader in innovation within the raw materials sector, contributing to Nigeria’s overall economic growth.“As well as launching an e-registration and certification portal to enhance transparency in the raw materials sector,” DG revealed.

He however reaffirmed his commitment to reshape the future of research, technology, and innovation, driving Nigeria towards an industrially vibrant and technologically resilient economy.

“As I mark 100 days in office, I boldly say that the Council is on the verge of rewriting its history.

“I believe that in no distant future, RMRDC will play a leading role in enhancing raw materials’ development to boost raw materials’ industrial trial processing and attain sustainable industrial growth in Nigeria.

The DG, however, applauded the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Chief Uche Geoffrey Nnaji, for his unwavering support and mentorship, saying the Minister’s leadership has been instrumental in the progress made so far.

In his opening remarks, the Directorate of Corporate Affairs, Mr Chucks Ngaha commended the hard-working DG who has weathered the storm further to put the Council on the ladder of more prosperity.

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