October 12, (THEWILL) – Former President Goodluck Jonathan has identified health care delivery as an essential aspect of national security.
He said all hands must be on deck to straighten infrastructure in the sector to deliver the health needs of the people, adding that the sector requires serious investment to safeguard the population from the devastation of ailments like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jonathan made these statements at the Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom state on Tuesday, when he took time out to commission the renovated 117-year-old Ikot Ekpene General Hospital.
Jonathan, who was in Uyo, the state capital, on the invitation of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) as the keynote speaker for the 2021 Physicians’ Week, said he had to take time out to commission the facility because of the importance of health to humanity.
“Healthcare is key and whenever you are talking about national security, the health security aspect is quite prominent. The COVID-19 pandemic has opened the eyes of everybody: administrators, politicians, professionals to the fact that the health of a nation is key and we must do everything to strengthen the infrastructure to deliver the health needs based on the United Nations (UN) provision as a human right issue,” he maintained.
He commended Governor Udom Emmanuel for breathing life into the facility, which he described as unique and historic, urging the people of Ikot Ekpene and the state in general to continue to work and encourage the governor to do more.
In his welcome remarks, Emmanuel noted that his administration is building an Akwa Ibom state where industrialisation, infrastructure, human capital development, healthcare and soft infrastructure will “stand us out” as a reference point of how to utililies the resources available to impact lives and create sustainable growth.
Represented by the deputy governor, Moses Ekpo, the governor said commissioning the General Hospital is the fulfilment of his campaign promise to establish world-class secondary health care facilities in all 10 federal constituencies in the state.
“With today’s event, we have completed and commissioned to the glory of God, all but one, (Ikot Abasi) whose work is on-going. We have committed enormous resources in upgrading or reconstruction of health care facilities, given my acute belief that three fundamental elements determine and shape the Social Contract: security of lives and property, healthy population and manpower development (education.) We have tackled these three crucial areas with messianic zeal and the results are there for any discerning or dispassionate mind and eye to see.
“On behalf of the government and the good people of Akwa Ibom State, I am honoured to welcome former President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, who is in our State at the invitation of the Nigerian Medical Association, Akwa Ibom State Chapter as the Keynote Speaker at the 2021 Annual National Physicians’ Week to our State.”
Emmanuel thanked former President Jonathan for consenting to commission the Phase 1 of the reconstructed General Hospital, Ikot Ekpene, which, according to him, has facilities that are comparable to any such hospital anywhere in the world.
He further pointed to several infrastructural milestones the current admi istratiin has reached, including the just-commissioned 25-kilometre dualised road, Ibom Air, and the soon-to-be-completed airport terminal. These projects, he said, are all part of a plan to make Akwa Ibom a reference for good governance and development.
He said: “Today, as most of you here can attest, you drove on a 25-kilometre dualized road that was just commissioned last week by the President of the Nigerian Senate, Dr. Ahmed Lawan. Our state has, for the last six years plus, been a construction hub, with several hundreds of economically viable road network spread across the three senatorial districts.
“Ibom Air, has become a national sensation in the Nigerian aviation industry, our international terminal when completed would be the smartest and most modern in our Nlnation, and indeed Africa.”
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