The Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Sunday said Governor Godwin Obaseki’s healthcare plan will bring only destruction to the state, while blasting the governor for stating that Edo people had no people competent enough to manage modern hospitals in Edo state.
This was in a statement by the Chairman of the Edo State APC Media Campaign Council, Mr. John Mayaki, after the PDP candidate’s media chat with members of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA). Mayaki also warned that a candidate that is “disoriented enough to mistakenly refer to Philip Ugbodaga as Permanent Secretary whereas he served as Chief Medical Director of Central Hospital will transfer that confusion to the healthcare system.”
He said, “He was asked why he had failed on his promise to build 192 Primary Health Care centres, but chose to evade and attack Dr Phillip, who was innocent of the attacks. He has been there for 4 years. He was a member of the economic and strategic planning team of the previous government for 8 years, and he can boldly tell us that all he has done is provide solar power and water, of which we don’t even have proof?”
Going further, Mayaki queried why the same governor who shut down the school of nursing and brought medical education in Edo to a halt had the courage to say that the state had enough doctors.
“Mr. Obaseki was simply making up figures,” he stressed, “to justify the excessive funds he has blown away in the name of health care. Even advanced countries like the USA, Canada and England know that on the population to health care ratio, they do not have enough.
“In Edo state, we know also that we do not have enough doctors on ground. The NMA panellists just did not want to embarrass him, but you could see the incredulity on their faces when Obaseki claimed that Edo state has enough doctors and does not need to employ anymore. He claimed that some consultants earn more than himself; since he campaigned on accountability, let him give us accurate statistics. The panellists had to correct him at a point because he was painting a utopia he did not understand.”
Meanwhile, commenting on the APC’s plan to fix the health sector, Mayaki stated that Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu’s SIMPLE agenda, which had been shared extensively around Edo state would prioritise healthcare for all citizens, particularly pregnant women and infants, by providing free medical services to them.
He also explained that the SIMPLE agenda’s policy on Employment and Social Empowerment means that more doctors must be engaged while the State School of Nursing, which has been under lock and key for more than three years by Governor Godwin Obaseki, will be reopened within his first three months in office.
“With such a school, Edo cannot be looking for nurses outside the State to work in its hospitals, and Pastor Ize-Iyamu also intends to engage more specialist doctors and nurses, especially for the healthcare centres in the local government areas,” he said.
By Prince John Mayaki
Chairman, Edo State APC Media Campaign Council
