RE: ADAMAWA HEALTH CARE
DELIVERY: HOWARD UNIVERSITY
VISITORS
BY USMAN GARBA
SANTURAKI
WRITES FROM NO74, TAFIDA STREET,
JIMETA-YOLA, Aug 15, 2006
E-mail:usbaturaki@yahoo.com
I
always find it difficult if not impossible to join
issues with my friend Babayola Mohammed Toungo an
erudite and a prolific writer. But, I am compelled
this time after reading his write-up in his page on
Amana online web-site to set the record straight for
the discerning minds on the recent visit of some
Nigerians Doctors residing in the United States of
America headed by Dr. Catherine Uzoma.
The impression created by the writer that the Adamawa
State Government expended a whooping sum of #320
million on the visit by the Doctors though he said
that it is a rumour that is being peddled is just a
figment of imagination as there is no anywhere that a
responsible government like the present government of
Gov. Boni Haruna could easily allowed itself to spend
such huge amount of money for some Doctors who just
spend only two weeks-Haba! dan mutanen Mayo-Belwa.
What really happened was the government of Adamawa
State shouldered the responsibility of transporting
the Doctors from the States and back plus
accommodating them in Yola and feeding. And more
importantly, during the Doctors stay, they have
treated quite a sizeable number of patients that came
from all corners of the state and operated a large
number of patients that have goiter, complicated
fracture, breast cancer etc.
I
was fortunate to visit the Yola Specialist Hospital,
to see things for myself and what I saw during the
Doctors stay proved to me that they are really serious
about what brought them to Yola as the consulting
rooms were bee-hive of activities with intense
struggling by patients to have a chance to see them.
I
find it funny enough for my dear friend, to allude
that the Doctors are super human to have achieved the
feat they made in a place where there is no
electricity-honestly this greatly made me to believe
that my friend has been absent from Yola because even
before the Doctors came to Yola for the exercise due
to the total commitment of the present Commissioner of
Health Engr. Mercel Gaila, who, though is an engineer
sought for the release of fund of which the Governor
Boni Haruna graciously approved and a 33KVA
transmitter was installed thereby giving the hospital
24hrs round the clock power supply and also a new
generator was put in place to replaced the obsolete
The writer, need to visit the hospital any time that
he was fortunate to be in Yola to see how water is
flushing in each of the wards as there was a complete
overhauling of the entire water system of the hospital
by replacing the old pipes that were blocked with new
As for the issue of no glove and other consumables in
the hospital, let the writer fully understand that it
is less than a month that the Adamawa State Government
took over the hospital by forcing the Federal Medical
Centre to relocate to its permanent site in Yola.
As at the time of writing this rejoinder, the
Commissioner of Health Engr. Mercel Gaila is far away
in Canada to take possession of the over thirty (30)
containers of hospital consumables and beds that would
be used by the hospital and other hospitals|cottage
hospitals across the state.
As a citizen of Adamawa State, the writer has the
right to know how the state resources is being used
but the ironic side that he is being personal and has
been showing disdain for the government of Gov. Boni
Haruna simply because he is not his man that is on the
seat. Therefore, whatever the present government does
whether it is good and beneficial to the people of
Adamawa State is always being painted black and not
The Hausas has a saying “in ba naka bane yau, naka ne
gobe” meaning that if it is not your own today, it may
be yours tomorrow. At least, it is time that the
writer should starts pouring encomiums on the
wonderful performances made by the present government
headed by Gov. Boni Haruna especially in the health
sector with the active support of a committed
Commissioner Mercel who believes that health of the
citizenry of the state is it wealth and he is doing
every thing possible to see that the health sector of
the state is one of the best.
The good health of the people of Adamawa State is of
great importance to the government of the state.
Towards this, the government now purchased drugs
direct from the pharmaceutical companies for its drug
revolving scheme thereby curtailing the infiltration
of fake drugs in the government hospitals.
The giant strides being made by the present government
in the health sector would go a long way in having a
free disease state. The Howard visitors would be back
for their second visit to treat people once again and
there is need for any concerned citizen of the state
to applaud the laudable initiative of the government
in regards finding succour for its people. Arrangement
is in the pipeline for the recruitment of more Doctors
to meet the competing demands once the consumables and
other hospital accessories arrived and installed all
WRITES FROM NO74, TAFIDA STREET,
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