Vice President, Senator Kashim Shetima has called for a stronger partnership with stakeholders in the health sector for better healthcare delivery in Nigeria.
Shetima made the call in Abuja, at a dinner in honour of the Special Adviser to Bola Tinubu on Health, Dr Salma-Anas Ibrahim organised by the Southern Borno stakeholders forum.
Shetima also urged Nigerians to trust and have confidence in Ibrahim as they faced the challenges of leadership together.
“Certainly Anas is one of our best, experience is not something you can buy in the marketplace, experience is something that you have to add on sometimes you will add a price, she was in Yemen which is one of the trouble spots in the world.
“She has garnered a wealth of experience and exposure in Egypt, in Somalia, so when I look at her rich resume. I feel compelled that this is the lady who should drive the process of change in the health sector in Borno and she did wonderfully well.
“Another opportunity came on board to contribute in service of our nation and to humanity. She won’t disappoint us. She is very committed, very honest, operates very anxious, very, very passionate about her job.
“I want Nigerians to invest their trust and confidence in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s compatibilities, things are stuff, things are bad, but we are not complaining.
“We campaign for the job. We went around the country, all the 36 states of the Federation, uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.
“We campaign vigorously, and for me, I ever went the whole hog and assaulting people and so on. So we are ready, we are prepared to take the challenge of leadership, the withdrawal of fuel subsidy was a painful decision that the government had to take, it wasn’t deliberate.
“But in the fullness of time, Nigerians will come to appreciate President Tinubu.
“The economy will pick up, a month after we assumed the mantle of leadership, what we had to distribute was 1.9 trillion naira. In order not to overheat the economy.
“We will distribute 900 billion and keep 1 trillion in reserves, as the economy picks up, I am absolutely certain that is the next couple of months.
“Nine prepared months, our economy would stabilize and all those speculating on our naira would pay a very heavy price in terms of loss because the naira will bounce back, the economy will bounce back and Nigerians will have every cost to celebrate,” he explained.
The Special Adviser to the President on Health, Anas, said that this administration is passionate about the concerns of women and children.
She said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is very passionate about Nigerians health and upgraded her to be his special adviser, and her passion for improving access to quality Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child Adolescent, and Elderly Health plus Nutrition (RMNCAEH+N) services, including sexual and reproductive rights, as well as gender-based violence will continue.
“This government would be collaborating with the Public-Private Partnership (PPP), to ensure the health of Nigerians.”
She said that by leveraging the expertise and resources of the private sector it would improve access to basic healthcare services for Nigerians.
She noted that Tinubu Renewed Hope Agenda aimed to achieve health for all through an efficient and effective universal health care coverage system, using the continuum model as contained in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Meanwhile, in his goodwill message, the Coordinator, Africa Health Budget Network, (AHBN), Dr Aminu Magashi said the office of the health adviser to President Tinubu was a new one and the first of its kind so stakeholders needed to help the office to succeed.
“It’s a paradigm shift in the country, the office is very key to health sector reform and also we need to improve our basic healthcare provision fund.
“We need to improve our health care agenda, we need to help the office function well,” he said.
Magashi said that there was a need for deeper coordination between the health adviser with office of the national security adviser, the biosafety agency, and the overall health sector to improve the health security agenda for the country.
He said that this administration should fully fund and support the implementation of the national health security action plan.
He, however, said that the CSOs and media should step up advocacy and accountability to ensure transparency in the health sector.
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