From Noah Ocheni, Lokoja
The Kogi state Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, on Friday, inaugurated the newly constructed two-storey Administrative block of the Federal Teaching Hospital (FTH) Lokoja.
Governor Bello who commended the federal government, the management and staff of the hospital for their commitment in moving the health institution forward said the FTH Lokoja would serve as the teaching hospital for the College of Health Sciences and Federal University Lokoja (FUL).
Bello, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr. Folashade Ayoade, noted that the Kogi health sector had undergone incredible renaissance in the last seven and half years under his New Direction Administration.
“We have done comprehensive upgrades of infrastructures, equipment and human resources at all our state-owned primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities.”
The governor pointed out that his administration is working hard to meet the objectives and complement the institution’s efforts in a very strong way adding “in most cases we totally reconstructed existing structures or built new ones from the scratch.”
In his remarks, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Zakari Usman, commended the FTH Lokoja’s management for the consistent progress made over the years, and for always complementing the efforts of the state government in quality healthcare services to the people of Kogi.
He assured the management of the state government’s continued support for FTH Lokoja, adding that the governor had made giant strides in the health sector, especially in infrastructural development.
Also Speaking, the Vice Chancellor of Federal University Lokoja (FUL), Prof. Olayemi Akinwunmi who thanked former President Buhari for upgrading the FMC Lokoja to FTH status also commended Yahaya Bello for his landmark achievements in the state health sector, assuring that the institution would do its best to consolidate them.
Akinwunmi noted that most Kogi students seeking admission to study Medicine in other Universities in catchment area were being denied admission.
The VC assured that the institution would raise a massive corps of health practitioners by deliberately giving qualified Kogi students preferential consideration in all admission processes.
He disclosed that the first set of BSc. Nursing in the College of Health Sciences, FUL, would be admitted this year while Faculty of Pharmacy would commence in first quarter of 2024.
The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of FTH Lokoja, Dr Olatunde Alabi, said the construction of the new Administrative block was borne out of his desire to create more space for their staff for optimal performance.
Alabi commended the state government for its consistent support and collaboration with the institution in terms of training its personnel, logistics, provision of consumables, among others.
He noted that the FTH Lokoja had over the years been strengthened in terms of human resources and infrastructures in delivering quality healthcare services to the people of Kogi and Nigeria at large.
