Skip to main content

Buhari places importance on healthcare delivery, welfare of Nigerians - Udoma

- Senator Udoma Udoma, the minister of budget and national planning has said that President Muhammadu Buhari is very much invested in improving health care

- The senator said not only is the president concerned about health care but also about the social welfare of Nigerians

- Udoma said that health care has continued to receive an increase in budget despite the need of other sectors of the country

According to the minister of budget and national planning, Senator Udoma Udoma, President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration places a very high premium on improving health care delivery and social welfare of Nigerians.

Udoma said this in a statement signed by his special adviser on media and communication, Mr Akpandem James, on Tuesday, March 19, in Abuja, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

READ ALSO: I cannot dabble into Kano governorship election - Tinubu declares

Udoma said this speaking at the opening of the ‘Value for Money in Health Sector Workshop’, Udoma said Buhari’s administration was prioritising health related expenditures in all the national budgets.

According to him, that is why in spite of the very tight revenue constraints and the demands of other competing sectors, the health sector has continued to receive increased allocations.

He said there was a reduction by 3.2 per cent of the aggregate federal government expenditure from N9.12 trillion in the 2018 budget to N8.83 trillion in the 2019 budget proposal.

Udoma, however, said an increase of eight per cent was proposed in the 2019 budget over the amount allocated for health in the 2018 budget.

He added that there was a need to ensure that these increased expenditures were actually improving healthcare outcomes.

“As we are able to demonstrate and show improved healthcare outcomes for the money we are currently spending, government at all levels will be encouraged to further increase funding to the health sector,” the minister said.

Udoma said that government would continue to be supportive of increased funding to the health sector and urged the workshop to examine and advise on innovative ways of doing so.

“It is even more critical that we institute key reforms to maximise the values derivable from the allocations to the healthcare sector through improved efficiency in the use of budgeted funds,” he said.

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

He emphasised that the workshop was to enable the participants to deliberate on how to achieve better outcomes for expenditure in the health sector.

“This is an important issue as most developing and middle-income countries, particularly those like Nigeria with large and rapidly growing populations.

“They need to find more effective and efficient ways of delivering quality health services to their citizens.

“This is why in the administration’s economic blueprint, the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), one of the three principal objectives of the Plan is ‘Investing in our People.”

In particular, Udoma said in the ERGP, the federal government committed the country to investing in health and education in order to meet the international targets set under the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Under the ERGP the country is committed to improving the accessibility, affordability and quality of healthcare,” the minister said.

Udoma drew attention to the fact that apart from the federal government, the various state governments and the local government councils have also been prioritising health expenditures in their budgets since responsibility for the health sector was constitutionally shared among all the tiers of government.

Spending by the sub-national governments, he said, must therefore, be taken into account in any assessment of the amount of public funds that is being expended in the health sector.

“Indeed, no meaningful discussion about improving healthcare in Nigeria can take place without involving the sub-national governments,” he said

Udoma, however, expressed the hope that the outcomes of the workshop would help shape public sector expenditure management practices at both the Federal and the sub-national levels, with respect to the health sector.

PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that there were indications that Buhari would appoint new service chiefs before the expiration of his first tenure on May 29.

The president would take oath of office on May 29 for a second term, having won the Saturday, February 23 presidential election.

The series of meeting President Buhari held with service chiefs were part of the process for their eventual retirement and exit from office, which might happen either before the end of the current tenure or after the May 29 inauguration.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) --> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!

Nigerians set 2nd term agenda for President Buhari | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng



from Nigeria News today & Breaking Naija news ▷ Read on Legit.ng 24/7 https://ift.tt/2Fp9iS4
via EDUPEDIA24/7

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

These funny food quotes will make you laugh like crazy

Food is not only an essential part of the daily routine but also the most exciting one. We cannot imagine our life without something yummy. How do you make ordinary eating fun and unforgettable? We bring to your attention amazing food quotes which will definitely make you smile. Image: unsplash.com (modified by author) Source: UGC Are you looking for interesting ideas to entertain your interlocutor while having lunch at work or family dinner? Then this article is definitely for you! Good food quotes Below are food quotes, aphorisms and witty statements. This is an exciting and extraordinary collection of the top "pearls of wisdom" on this topic. Here you can find funny jokes and sayings, intelligent thoughts of philosophers and original words of great thinkers and inspiring statuses from social networks, as well as many other things. The best appetite comes without food. I love calories. They are dаmn tasty. An empty stomach is the Devil's playground. Have bre
Post a Comment
Read more

The Transitional Phase of African Poetry

The Transitional Phase The second phase, which we have chosen to call transitional, is represented by the poetry of writers like Abioseh Nicol, Gabriel Okara, Kwesi Brew, Dennis Brutus, Lenrie Peters and Joseph Kariuki. This is poetry which is written by people we normally refer to as modem and who may be thought of as belonging to the third phase. The characteristics of this poetry are its competent and articulate use of the received European language, its unforced grasp of Africa’s physical, cultural and socio-political environment and often its lyricism. To distinguish this type of poetry we have to refer back to the concept of appropriation we introduced earlier. At the simplest and basic level, the cultural mandate of possessing a people’s piece of the earth involves a mental and emotional homecoming within the physical environment. Poems like Brew’s ‘‘Dry season”, Okara’s “Call of the River Nun”, Nicol’s “The meaning of Africa” and Soyinka’s “Season”, to give a few examples,
Post a Comment
Read more

The pioneering phase of African Poetry

The pioneering phase We have called the first phase that of the pioneers. But since the phrase “pioneer poets” has often been used of writers of English expression like Osadebay, Casely-Hayford and Dei-Anag, we should point out that our “pioneer phase” also includes Negritude poets of French expression. The poetry of this phase is that of writers in “exile” keenly aware of being colonials, whose identity was under siege. It is a poetry of protest against exploitation and racial discrimination, of agitation for political independence, of nostalgic evocation of Africa’s past and visions of her future. However, although these were themes common to poets of both English and French expression, the obvious differences between the Francophone poets and the Anglophone writers of the 1930s and 1940s have been generally noted. Because of the intensity with which they felt their physical exile from Africa, coupled with their exposure to the experimental contemporary modes of writing in F
Post a Comment
Read more