HOUSE OF REPS COMMENDS GOV. OTTI’S ACHIEVEMENTS IN HEALTHCARE

Members of the Federal House of Representatives Committee on Healthcare Services have praised Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, for what they described as unprecedented strides in the healthcare sector.

The commendation was made on Tuesday, January 28, when the committee, led by its Chairman, Hon. Dr. Amos Gwamna Magaji, paid a working visit to Governor Otti in his office as part of their oversight functions in the state.

Hon. Magaji explained that the lawmakers were in Abia to assess the implementation of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF), noting that the committee has toured more than 30 states to ensure the fund is effectively utilized.

“We are here because of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund. We have gone round over 30 states of Nigeria to ensure that the fund is working,” he said.

He added that with growing calls to increase the fund from 1% to 2%, the committee deemed it necessary to verify its impact across the country.

According to him, the delegation was impressed not only by improvements in the health sector but also by other developments that support healthcare delivery, including infrastructure and power projects such as the Geometric Power initiative in Aba.

Hon. Magaji applauded Governor Otti for transforming Abia State, stressing that the governor’s performance extends beyond healthcare to sanitation, road construction, and other critical sectors.

“Since we came here, it has been one success story after another. The town is very clean. For many years, Abia was known as one of the dirtiest states in Nigeria, but the narrative has changed,” he stated.

Drawing a biblical analogy, Magaji likened the transformation in Abia to the experience of the Queen of Sheba, who visited King Solomon and testified that what she saw exceeded what she had heard.

He further expressed concern over Nigeria’s high maternal mortality rate, which he said remains among the highest globally, but commended Abia State for recording a significant decline over the past decade.

He praised the revitalization of maternal healthcare centres, the strengthening of specialist hospitals in Umuahia, and the recent accreditation of the Abia State University Teaching Hospital.

Magaji also lauded Governor Otti’s commitment to healthcare funding, referencing the 2001 Abuja Declaration which recommends allocating at least 15% of annual budgets to health.

In his response, Governor Otti described healthcare as a critical social infrastructure that must be prioritized.

“Healthcare, from our own point of view, is social infrastructure, just like building roads. I want a situation where somebody walks into a primary healthcare centre with 100% chances of survival,” he said.

The governor noted that while infrastructure is important, staffing facilities with qualified professionals is equally essential, explaining that some completed centres cannot be fully operational until adequate personnel are available.

Governor Otti also emphasized the importance of meeting the Abuja Declaration benchmark, adding that healthcare should be seen as expenditure rather than investment driven by profit expectations.

Interestingly, he revealed that Abia’s improving environment has attracted skilled professionals back into the state’s health workforce, including doctors returning from the United States and South Africa.

He disclosed that among the newly recruited health workers is a neurosurgeon who relocated from New York to join Abia’s healthcare system.

Governor Otti attributed this to the creation of a secure and enabling environment where professionals can live and work without fear.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Abia State House Committee on Health, Hon. Emeka Jacob Obioma, and the Commissioner for Health, Professor Enoch Ogbonnaya Uche, highlighted the governor’s achievements in healthcare delivery and thanked him for transforming the sector.

The visit was attended by the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Pastor Caleb Ajagba, Ph.D, Special Advisers on Health and Legislative Matters, the Director-General of the Strategic Communication Bureau, and heads of state-owned health institutions and agencies.