The group, in its quarterly “State of the Nation Address” presented by the chairman of its Committee on Social Mobility, the Economy and Politics, Dr Luqman AbdurRaheem, said the country had been having recurring cases of outbreaks of communicable diseases almost back-to-back, citing the latest case of the outbreak of monkeypox.
The group expressed regrets that the healthcare statistics of the country was low because of lack of quality healthcare to match the changing epidemics in spite of the numerous health institutions, both public and private.
“There are issues of obsolete medical equipment and inadequate basic infrastructure. This is why about 30,000 Nigerians spend about $1 billion annually on medical tourism outside the country.
“With Nigeria’s hospital bed spaces at more than 160,000, it is an abysmally low bed space per thousand population of 0.9. Compare this figure to those of South Africa and Japan which stand at 2.29 and 13.32 respectively as at 2015,” it said.
The group noted that there is “a serious financing deficit that can be plugged through a rigorous pursuit of innovative Public Private Partnership,” which “will not unnecessarily increase the cost of healthcare significantly since it has been successfully implemented in several countries.”
On security, TMC commended the Federal Government for taking “greater steps” in curbing insecurity, especially as it relates to activities of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and other separatist groups in the country.
The group said it did not condemn agitation if some people deem it necessary and the way to go but “what we do condemn is the deliberate threat to law and order, heating up the polity and further creating enmity among the different ethnic nationalities.”
While urging all groups in the country agitating for one reason or the other to do so with regard to the laws of the land, it asked the Federal Government to apply the same type of action to the issues of settler/indigene crisis, the farmer/herdsmen crisis, kidnapping and armed robbery in the interest of peaceful living for all.
On economy, TMC praised the Federal Government for issuing the N100 billion sukuk, which it described as being in line with the practice in other countries of the world like Britain and Germany which, it said, are competing to be the biggest Islamic finance hub outside the Middle East.
“The advantages of the Sukuk bond, aside from the return on investment for the investors, are numerous. It is money that is specifically tied to the project and cannot be embezzled.
“This is especially important in our environment where we know huge sums of money are released yearly for projects that are never undertaken. The sukuk bond is a potent instrument for rejuvenating, redeveloping and revitalising the nation’s ailing economy.
“It is also an innovative exercise for the mobilisation of funds for infrastructural development and it is yet another step in financial inclusion and ethical investment,” the group said.
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