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Lagos and the revitalisation of public health
BY TAYO OGUNBIYI
THERE is a saying that “a wealthy
nation is a healthy nation”. This assertion
is anchored on the belief that a
healthy population contributes immensely
to the socio-economic growth of any
society.
This is why one can only but commend
the Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu administration
in Lagos State for making
health and environment one of its cardinal
programmes as captured in
T.H.E.M.E.S(an acronym for the
administration’s strategic development
agenda, namely: Traffic Management and
Transportation, Health and Environment,
Education and Technology, Making
Lagos a 21st Century Economy, Entertainment
and Tourism and Security
and Governance) developmental Agenda.
In the last two years, the administration
has invested immensely in the upgrade of
public health facilities to enhance access
to quality healthcare. At the centre of the
state’s public health policy is the provision
of unhindered access to healthcare
delivery without financial constraint to the
residents. The commissioning of three
Mother and Child Centers, MCCs, at Eti-
Osa, Igando and Badagry amply demonstrates
the administration’s resolve to enhance
residents’ access to healthcare. The
fourth MCC, located in Epe, has been
completed and will be commissioned in
the coming weeks.
Similarly, the roadmap for
the comprehensive upgrade of infrastructure
in the state-owned health facilities
began last year, following the approval
of the plan by the executive council. The
infrastructure roadmap is being executed
in phases with
the primary goal of revamping health facilities
across the state’s primary, secondary
and tertiary healthcare system. The
overhaul is part of the strategy to build
a resilient healthcare in Lagos and increase
residents’ access to quality universal
health coverage.
The renewal effort, which is being carried
out in short, medium-and longterm
bases, would bring about fit-forpurpose
healthcare facilities that would
raise the capacity of government to respond
to contemporary and future health
challenges.
The state’s ongoing public health facilities
renewal drive also include improved
efficiency for physical maintenance, ease
of movement, low carbon footprint, low
energy consumption, infection prevention
and control as well as staff and patient
comfort. The restoration programme is
also designed to address issues of design
errors, drainage, patient flow, staff flow,
water collection, infection prevention, energy
and ventilations.
Government has renovated and remodelled
the Mainland Hospital in Yaba with
future plans of making it an Institute of
Research for Infectious Disease.
It has also completed the remodelling
and upgrading of Apapa General Hospital,
just as the Harvey Road Health Centre,
Ebute Metta Health Centre, Isolo General
Hospital and the General Hospital,
Odan Lagos are all undergoing different
It is expected that all issues
bedeviling medical health
infrastructure across the
state will disappear when the
medical infrastructure blueprint
strategy is fully implemented
phases of renovation. All of these are part
of the efforts to make health
accessible to Lagosians.
It is important to emphasise that
the health facilities’ upgrade is being
done in a sustainable way to ensure that
it would take years for major repairs to
be done, except the statutory maintenance
by the hospital management as
well as the Lagos State Asset Maintenance
Agency, LASIAMA.
As part of the Sanwo-Olu administration’s
‘Greater Lagos’ agenda, the construction
of new hospitals to
bridge noticeable gaps in access and services
in the health sector has also begun.
This is in tandem with the determination
of the current administration to
achieve the goals set in the Health and
Environment pillar of its T.H.E.M.E.S
agenda.
Hence, government has commenced the
construction of a 280-bed General Hospital
in Ojo, 150-bed New Massey Street
Children’s Hospital, while the Governor
has also approved the construction and
equipping of 1,500-bed Psychiatric Hospital
and Rehabilitation Centre at Majidun
in Ketu Ejinrin.
The prototype of the new, remodeled and
upgraded healthcare infrastructure in the
state were planned to conform with key
elements of global standards health facility
designs such as natural light/ventilation,
sustainable energy, patient flow, infection
prevention, noise prevention, flood
prevention, identifiable standout visual
features as well as scalability and modular
design for expansion.
Earlier, the construction of a four-storey
Faculty of Basic Medical and Clinical Sciences
Office Block at the Lagos State
University College of Medicine,
LASUCOM, was completed, while plans
have also been concluded
for the renovation and upgrade of some
facilities at the Lagos State University
Teaching Hospital, LASUTH. This is in
line with government’s medical infrastructure
blueprint strategy for the tertiary
health facilities.
Also, in partnership with the private
sector, government has completed and
handed over an oxygen plant
at the Mainland and Gbagada General
Hospitals. The Triage and Oxygen Centres
in 10 locations across Lagos have also
been delivered. In order to enhance staff
welfare, the construction of a 24-unit
Doctors’ and Staff Quarters in Gbagada
General Hospital has equally commenced.
Work has also begun on the blueprint
designs for Comprehensive Health Center,
Primary Health Center and Health
Posts as part of the move to rejig their
operations and service delivery. This
will, no doubt, significantly help in adding
bed capacity to Lagos State’s healthcare
infrastructure.
As earlier affirmed, the promotion and
protection of the health of Lagos
residents undoubtedly has a positive
impact on social development and quality
of life of citizens. This explains government’s
investment in the greenfield
medical infrastructure projects to prevent
issues noticed in health infrastructure in
the State. It is expected that all issues bedeviling
medical health
infrastructure across the state will disappear
when the medical infrastructure
blueprint strategy is fully implemented.
The continuous improvement in quality
of health service in the state is a core
Vanguard, TUESDAY, MAY 11, 2021 — 17
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mandate of the Sanwo-Olu administration
and the government is uniquely
positioned to utilise available resources
to actualize this goal. With the ongoing
refurbishment and roll out of a new infrastructure
blueprint, the medical infrastructure
landscape of Lagos would look completely
different, thus moving the state a
step closer to achieving universal health
coverage. Perhaps,
more
importantly, the medical infrastructure
blueprint agenda will help address
the issue of brain drain, medical tourism
and patient welfare.
It is also essential to draw attention to
the state’s response to the Coronavirus,
COVID-19, which has been commended
locally and globally, as it helped to prevent
the pandemic from spreading more
rapidly across the state and also
from wreaking havoc on
the entire country. The response strategy
put in place by
the government efficiently curtailed
the pandemic and limited fatalities.
EKO TELEMED, a tech-driven platform
through which the government managed
the spread of the virus, yielded efficient
results in breaking the cycle of
community infection.
In order to prevent the resurgence of
the pandemic, government has begun the
deployment of EKO TELEMED in the
management of in-bound international
travellers from high burden countries. The
tech-driven platform would be used to
monitor movement and treat infected travellers.
The Sanwo-Olu administration has,
no doubt, demonstrated that the restoration
of public health facilities remains
vital in its ‘Greater Lagos” Agenda. It recognises,
and rightly so, that health is
wealth and this explains its numerous innovative
and people-centered schemes
that are carefully designed to change the
face of public health in the state.
On the whole, it is heart-warming to note
that the current administration in Lagos
State is working tirelessly towards attaining
a sustainable health care delivery system
for the residents.
•Ogunbiyi is Deputy Director, Public
Affairs, Ministry of Information and
Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.
2023: Is Nigeria ready for woman president?
BY ZUBAIDA BABA
IBRAHIM
IN less than two years from
now, the curtain will be drawn
on the administration of President
Muhammadu Buhari. But
while he is still the present occupant
of Aso Rock, the seat of power,
in Abuja, political gladiators
and their political parties have
started scheming and jostling for
PMB’s lofty seat.
Not only Nigeria, but the entire
global community expressed
unbridled joy over the
emergence of Mrs. Samia Suluhu
Hassan as Tanzania’s new
President. The 61-year-old was
Tanzania’s immediate-past Vice
President until March 19,
2021, when providence made
her the first citizen of the East
African nation following the
demise of President John Magufuli.
But unlike Tanzania, 60
years’ post-independence, Nigeria,
Africa’s Giant, is yet to have
a woman holding even the seat
of the Vice President. It is pathetic
to note that the efforts of
amazons like Mrs. Sarah Jibril
to become Nigeria’s first female
president in past general elections
had proved futile.
Firstly, it should be noted that
the political pertinence of Nigerian
women is not up for debate.
Over the years, hundreds of
women gather at various political
rallies to demonstrate their
support for their male equivalent
through advocating, campaigning
and mobilising others
to vote. Beyond that, come election
day we see them trooping in
magnificent numbers, the elderly
and the youthful, queuing up
to cast their ballots for male candidates.
To solidify this standpoint,
out of 84 million registered voters
nationwide in the previous
national elections, women accounted
for over 40 million, this
means they make up to 47.14%
of total eligible voters which can
be a measure to the remarkable
increase of women’s participation
in politics. Despite this all,
there is a deep-rooted level of
under-representation of women
in politics when compared to
male counterparts.
The deficiency of women holding
political offices can be
linked to a few factors beginning
with the female folk conception
of politics which is the
belief that Nigerian politics is
based on high political vigor
which only men possess; the
competitiveness to compete in
chaotic environments, the
strength to take it by force
when force is required.
Women’s perception of politics
as a dirty game has further estranged
them from the idea of
mainstream politics. Another
ingredient is political campaigns
necessitates rock-hard financial
backing for it to be successful.
Women’s historical experience of
discrimination with division of
labour and job opportunities offered
on sexual basis has given
the menfolk more productive
roles which favours them to the
disadvantage of the womenfolk.
Adding to that, financiers prefer
male candidates due to the assumption
that they (the men)
have more prospects.
These major points noted above
coupled with many other factors
are the same reason why Nigeria
needs more women to strive for
political office. The poor representation
in governance has become
an enabler of discriminatory
act, marginalisation and social
closure which results to one
group usurping all opportunities
of bringing the other group down
through seclusion and displacements.
This is not in any way due
to the capability of the women
being substandard. In fact, there
is an exclusive group of female
presidents who have laid the foundation
for future female leaderships,
some of them who have left
an emblem on politics in their
respective countries.
Let’s take Nobel peace prize
laureate and former Liberian
president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf,
who is the longest-serving female
president in African history. Beyond
her pioneering election,
Sirleaf had made gigantic steps
during her presidency by committing
to nonviolence and peacebuilding
processes in her coun-
Policy makers should
seize the opportunity of
approaching national
elections to promote
women’s participation
and move female candidates
to the top of
election lists and into
leadership positions
try. Another example is
Malawi’s first female president,
Joyce Banda, whose bookkeeping
measures have helped lift
monetary suspensions from Western
donors to Malawi and bring
back cash injections from the International
Monetary Fund,
IMF. These role models show that
women can perform wonderfully
in governance and shaping countries’
development.
Using certain policies, policy
makers should seize windows of
opportunity of approaching national
elections to promote
women’s participation aggressively
through urging political
parties to move female candidate
to the top of election lists and into
leadership positions. They
should demand women’s inclusion
in transitional institutions,
especially constitution-drafting
bodies, through pushing heads of
state and government to exercise
gender parity in executive appointments.
There should also be programmes
that fund urban and rural
campaigns that publicise
women’s contributions and ability
to lead, that also provide financial
and technical backing
based solely on candidates’ prospectus
irrespective of gender.
Women politicians can also establish
mentoring programmes
to support and encourage others
to run for office.
Women in all levels have been
put at the backdrop politically
for years and this has inclined
them to reduce themselves as
tools for political success for
male counterparts who, under the
guise of women movements advocacy,
use it as a plan to gain
political power or strengthen the
power. Therefore, women should
reject empty promises and petty
gifts and support their women
folk for this is their responsibility
and it is even good basis for
achieving gender equality and
equity.
•Ibrahim, a political activist,
wrote, from Wuye District, Abuja.
C
M
Y