Following the expiration of the 14-day ultimatum issued to governors by Nigerian youths and students’ leaders over the poor state of primary healthcare in the country, National President of Nigeria Youth Union (NYU), Chinonso Obasi, has urged government to immediately proceed with the building of primary health care centres across the country.
Obasi and other protesters, who met with the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, during the nationwide protest in Abuja on Thursday, said: “During the meeting with the minister, he revealed to us that the Federal Government is only trying to give the initial push, but the bulk stops with the state and local governments.
“We are deeply pained and grossly disenchanted that some governors are totally dictating what happens at the local government level, while directly controlling and pocketing a great chunk of council funds.
“These governors have never been comfortable with the public-private partnership to provide basic healthcare at the local/community level and have created a stumbling block to the process. The result is the decadent state of rural health infrastructure, which we now see.”
“Having patiently waited for the demands of our communiqué to be met without any positive feedback, we are now constrained to converge on the grounds of the Federal Ministry of Health to press home our pains to President Muhammadu Buhari to revisit the crucial project plan of public private partnership for the creation of primary healthcare in the interest of the Nigerian masses.”
Recall that a crucial meeting was held among the NYU, National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS), National Association of Colleges of Education Students (NACES), Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), National Association of University Students (NAUS), National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Zone A, B and C solely for the purpose of looking into the state of Nigerian health sector, with a specific emphasis on ensuring basic healthcare accessibility to the masses at the grassroots.
