Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs and Member representing Gombi /Hong Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives,Rt.Hon. ( Dr.) Yusuf Buba Yakub, has said that the establishment of a new Federal Medical Centre in Hong,Adamawa State,will provide over 3000 direct jobs to the teeming unemployed youths in the country.The above ,he says,is outside other opportunities that will emanate from the facility, including the enormous multiplier effects of jobs that have been so created for both Medical and Administrative workers.
The lawmaker,who revealed the above , Tuesday, while speaking with National Assembly correspondents in Abuja, also reiterated his earlier view that more tertiary health facilities could be established closer to the people in order to afford them access to quality healthcare and timely interventions during emergencies. He ,also insisted that the
existing facilities were already overstretched,considering Nigeria’s population of over 200,000 000 people.
“I have always advocated that a Federal Medical Centre or one tertiary health facility be established very close to the people across the country. But,due to paucity of funds,we can not achieve that now. But, this is still very important so that the people of Nigeria could have accessible quality medical facilities.If you look at Adamawa State today,for instance,the only Federal Medical Centre that we ‘ve had until now is overstretched…so congested, patients go and won’t have bed spaces; they will have critical, emergency cases, patients will be in the Emergency Unit for one or two weeks because the facility is overstretched! So,with this facility being provided by the law Mr. President signed last week,it is, indeed,a plus for our people and the area”, Buba observed.
On how long it would take for the new Federal Medical Centre,Hong, to commence operations,the Adamawa-born lawmaker said President Muhammadu Buhari in his approval had directed an immediate release of funds for the take-off of the facility. He said already several private- sector organisations , the host community of the facility and others have since made several quality donations,ranging from state-of- the- art medical equipment to land. This,he stressed, was to ensure a fast and almost seamless transition to the new status of the facility.
” The facility is already on ground and the take-off is immediate.In the approval of Mr. President, he said the funds would be released immediately so the Federal Medical Centre would go to work.That is how important the place is in terms of economic development;in terms of boosting medical tourism…you know we are close to the Cameroon borders and I have a conviction that even people from Cameroon will come in to access medical attention from that facility. People from neighbouring Southern Borno State, people from
Askira Uba,Wamdio will also come in to use that medical facility;and within Adamawa State,we have about eight Local Governments that will come in to utilize that Federal medical facility. So, it’s a great plus to the people of Gombi/Hong Federal Constituency; it’s a great plus to the people of Adamawa State and to Nigerians as a whole”, Buba obliged.
Speaking on the over ten Bills,which he has sponsored within the ongoing 9th Assembly,Buba said each of the Bills was at different stages of lawmaking at the National Assembly and noted that another one was still awaiting Presidential Assent.Of particular importance,he said,was the Bill for the establishment of the Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Examiners through which the endemic case of corruption and the fight against it in our country would be addressed.He said that for us in Nigeria, whenever issues of forensics arise,we travel as far as South Africa or even our neighbouring Ghana to seek for dependable results! After the Bill is made law, Buba said,this will never be the case again. According to the farmer- turned-lawmaker,Nigeria has the Institute,but it was yet to be backed by an Act of the National Assembly; adding that,with the current efforts to get Presidential Assent for the Bill,he was optimistic that results would soon come from the nation’s seat of power.
Continuing, Buba said there was also the Bill on seeking to make Agricultural Science a core and compulsory subject in our schools. While pointing out that the benefits of the Bill would change the current narrative among Nigerian youth whose attitude to Agriculture could be said to be anything but welcoming,the lawmaker said the Bill would revive the lost interest and glory of Agriculture in Nigeria through engagement in model mechanized farming.
Another Bill of note for him ,Buba said,was the Bill seeking to repeal and re-enact the Act that established the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs ( NIIA),Lagos,which was established shortly after the nation’s Independence in early 1960s. He informed that despite the many years the Institute has continued to operate and the dynamic importance which it ought to wield in the evolution and management of Nigeria’s foreign policy,many things about the Institute have known better days and were,therefore, in need of a complete turnaround. It was the reality of the above,the lawmaker said, including the need to broaden its operations,that made necessary the repeal and re-enactment Bjll. Buba said that,since the foreign policy of every nation was its integral driving force in the comity of nations,it was important to daily look at what constitutes our foreign policy against the backdrop of a highly dynamic globe.He again expressed the hope that the Bill ,when signed into law, would go a long way at working for the nation, alongside other of his bills at different levels of maturity at the National Assembly.
Apart from the above,the Gombi/Hong Representative also noted the progress the House Committee on Foreign Affairs has continued to make in the area of oversight, especially,in the area of ensuring that things are properly and speedily done in our Foreign Missions.He said the directive for Ambassadors at post to retain some form of financial autonomy that would allow them spend the capital component of their budget without recourse to the Ministry headquarters in Abuja was aimed at eliminating bureaucratic bottlenecks at the nation’s Foreign Missions. He thanked the Executive and other stakeholders for their constant support.
Nkem Anyata-Lafia
Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs to the Lawmaker
April 13,2022
Please,see photos and videos of the interaction.
