By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
Senate President Ahmed Lawan yesterday lambasted Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, Minister of State for Health, Sen. Adeleke Mamora and the Permanent Secretary of the ministry over their absence at the COVID-19 summit.
Lawan showed his displeasure yesterday at the first National COVID-19 Summit in Abuja.
He said, “Before I begin my remark, is the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health here? Well, I asked that question because the two ministers of health are not here, the minister of health, the minister of state and the permanent secretary are not here. I believe that is not good”.
“Because everything we do here, the Federal Ministry of Health is supposed to be here to garner all the resources that will come out of this.”
“The PSC is simply an interventionist outfit. And as politicians and political leaders, we are supposed to be very serious and committed about the health of our people. Thank you very much”
The two-day summit which started with technical sessions last weekend, commenced fully on Monday, December 6 was put together by the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 to fashion out workable solutions towards ending the pandemic and build back the economy better.
The theme of the Summit, “Pushing through the Last Mile to End the Pandemic and Build Back Better”, with the objectives among others, to review the country’s COVID-19 response from February 2020 to November 2021- to identify successes, gaps, and lessons learnt; identify resources and develop strategies that will actualize the country’s expressed international commitments towards ending COVID-19 by 31st December 2022; develop an accountability framework for COVID-19 response and health security in Nigeria; synthesize the blueprint for Nigeria’s pandemic recovery, reconstruction, health security, and sustainability; and articulate actionable recommendations to President Muhammadu Buhari on the governance structure, resources, and policies needed to end COVID-19 in Nigeria by December 31, 2022, and build back the health system and the economy to better respond to future health-security threats.
According to some experts in the health sector present at summit, while responding to questions from journalists on the reaction of the Senate President, commended the him for speaking the truth.
An expert who declined being mentioned expressed his feelings to journalists on the reaction of the Senate President said: “The Senate President had done what true leaders are supposed to do. The Ministers and indeed top officials of the Federal Ministry of Health have the penchant of not attending events organised for the improvement of the health sector. Most times if they attend, they come late making people to wait for them for hours.
“The Minister of health has killed the health sector because since he came, nothing is working in the sector. In fact, the sector is at a stand-still. It is shameful that what they could not organise, the PSC has help them to organised but they still have the guts to stay away.”
“Even though the minister was around during the technical sessions on Saturday and Sunday, it is not good enough for him not to create time and sit at the summit from the beginning to the end.”
This is like calling people to come and help you carry some load and when they come, you stay away. As the Senate President said, this is not good, he said.
