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FG secures $2.2bn for health sector overhaul – Presidency
The Federal Government says it has mobilised $2.2bn in external finance for the Nigeria health sector renewal investment initiative.
This came as President Bola Tinubu approved the establishment of the Sector-wide Coordinating Office-Programme Management Unit domiciled in the Office of the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare.
A statement signed Friday by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, said the move is to “ensure efficient, transparent, and accountable management of external grants mobilised towards the implementation of the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative.”
The statement is titled, ‘President Tinubu approves establishment of programme management unit for health sector renewal investment initiative.’
It partly read, “So far, $2.2bn has been mobilised in external financing to catalyse the implementation of the NHSRII through financial commitments from various development partners.”
The Sector-wide Coordinating Office-Programme Management Unit will report to a Steering Committee/Ministerial Oversight Committee chaired by the Minister, including the Minister of State, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, and relevant development partners.
The SCO-PMU will serve as the secretariat and delivery unit for the NHSRII and is to be headed by a national coordinator.
The functions of the SCO-PMU include programme management, monitoring and evaluation, engagement and supervision of Independent Verification Agents for NHSRII programmes, and fiduciary management, among others.
Consequently, the President also approved the appointment of Dr. Muntaqa Sadiq as the National Coordinator of the Sector-wide Coordinating Office-Programme Management Unit.
Sadiq has over 17 years of experience in public health, impact investing, investment banking, energy, and climate financing across the health, finance, climate, and energy sectors.
He has served as Head of the Performance Management and Delivery Unit at the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare; Chief Executive Officer of the Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria; Head of the Nigeria Energy Transition Office, and Private Sector Engagement Adviser at the World Bank.
Sadiq is a doctoral candidate (in public health) at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
He holds an M.Phil in Bioscience Enterprise from the University of Cambridge and a medical science/MBBS degree from the Imperial College, London.
The Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative was unveiled on December 12, 2023, following the adoption of the sector-wide policy by the National Council on Health in November 2023.
The Presidency described it as “a bold and transformative initiative aimed at improving both population health outcomes and the country’s pool of human capital with the primary objectives of saving lives, minimising physical and financial pains, and ensuring the health of all Nigerians.”
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s family residence in Kogi was reportedy invaded by gunmen around 1 a.m. on Tuesday, April 16, leaving damaged windows but no injuries.
The incident happened at her hometown residence in Obeiba-Ihima, located in Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi State.
Sources familiar with the event said the attackers arrived around 1:00 a.m. Armed with cutlasses and guns, they damaged parts of the building, smashing windows and causing panic in the area. At least three men were involved in the attack.
Senator Natasha’s Chief Security Officer, Yakubu Ovanja, quickly informed the appropriate security agencies.
In response, officers from the Okehi Police Division rushed to the scene.
Although nobody was hurt and no suspects have been arrested yet, security officials recorded the extent of the damage and launched a preliminary investigation.
The reason behind the attack is still unknown, and as of now, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan has not released any official statement. She represents Kogi Central in the Senate and is known as a vocal figure in Nigerian politics.
According to Zagazola Makama, police are still trying to figure out what motivated the attackers and are working to find those responsible.
The communities came under simultaneous attacks just a day after the killing of 11 persons at Otobi Community also in Otukpo LGA.
Benue has in the past decade experienced incessant attacks.
Suspected herdsmen have again stepped up violent attacks as no fewer than three communities in the Otukpo Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State were attacked on Wednesday.
The communities affected during the fresh attacks include Emichi, Odudaje, and Okpamaju all in Otukpo where five persons were killed in February. The communities came under simultaneous attacks just a day after the killing of 11 persons at Otobi Community also in Otukpo LGA.
Local sources confirm that several people may have been feared dead again in the fresh attack.
Wednesday’s attack came hours after Governor Hyacinth Alia confirmed the arrest of three suspected herders in connection with the invasion of Otobi village on Tuesday night.
When contacted, Otukpo LGA Chairman, Maxwell Ogiri, confirmed the attack on the three communities, saying that the attackers stormed the communities at the time when the Commissioner of Police was still at the Ochidoma Palace over the previous day’s attack on Otobi.
He added that three people sustained injury in the attacks on the three communities, leading to women and children abandoning the communities for fear of being killed.
“Only young men were in the communities when the attackers arrived. The prompt response from combined security operatives made the attackers flee and none of them were arrested,” Ogiri stated.
The police spokesperson in the state, Sewuese Anene, was yet to confirm details of the attacks on the three communities.
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