Tag: Gbajabiamila

…says Nigerians should continue to take serious COVID-19 precautions 

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila has said that the House is committed to increasing the allocation to the health sector with a view to improving the well-being of Nigerians.
Speaking at a 2-day training organised for health workers by his office in Lagos State, the Speaker said the programme was to improve their capacity to be able to handle the Covid-19 situation better.
Declaring the training open on Sunday in Lagos, the Speaker said it was “part of efforts to ensure that health care professionals have the skills they need to continue to do the incredible work they have done so far.”
The Speaker, who paid glowing tributes to all health workers across the country for the way they have handled the Covid-19 situation so far, said he believed they deserve more attention in terms of training and capacity building.
“Through all of this, our medical professionals have shown exemplary courage and commitment. Their efforts have renewed our faith in the human spirit and shown us that we are, each one of us, capable of extraordinary greatness, of courage beyond measure and goodness beyond what we imagine in ordinary times,” he said.
He said: “This moment also requires that governments at all levels continue to support the training, welfare and wellbeing of the medical professionals who are at the forefront of this existential battle. We owe them that much, and so much more.”
Gbajabiamila added that the House “has committed to increasing the appropriations due to the health sector so that we can remedy the weaknesses of infrastructure and capacity, access and quality that bedevil our national health care system.
“It is also an example of what we can do when we work together, across different levels of government and with the private sector to deliver objectives that serve the best interests of all our citizens.”
He expressed delight at the discovery of a vaccine that would bring Covid-19 to an end, cautioning, however, that “Yet we must recognise, and we must continue to act in the knowledge that we are still far from the time when that vaccine will be perfect and readily available to all the people of the world.”
“When the final account of this moment is given, we will not forget to credit the health workers and medical professionals who have helped us here in Nigeria, and others all over the world, to manage and overcome the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“So, while we anticipate this medical breakthrough, we must brace ourselves to deal with the reality of now. And the truth is that we still have work to do to ensure that we survive this battle against disease and death.
“That work begins with making sure that all our citizens continue to observe the Covid-19 guidelines and keep looking out for one another as we have done so far.”
Gbajabiamila thanked the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, for personally attending the programme as well as other partners and those that helped designed the programme.
Speaking, Sanwo-Olu, who acknowledged the fact that the Speaker is doing both Lagos and Nigeria proud, said the training would deepen the efforts of the Lagos State Government in ensuring that health care is accessible and affordable to the people of the state.
“For us in Lagos State, we’ll continue to see health delivery as an important pillar in our team’s agenda. We have committed to see that year on, we’ll increase our budget size in health,” the governor said, adding that despite the budget deduction of about 22 percent during this year, that of health was increased instead.
“We’ll continue to ensure that we raise the bar on our health agenda. I’m sure in terms of numbers, you saw how many tests we did for Covid in Lagos. Because we know it’s public health, we’ve done over 120,000 to 125,000 free. So, you can compare to when we brought our private laboratory practitioners.
“It goes to show you that envelope, the size of financial commitment that the state had to make, to make sure that a public health challenge like Covid was not just something that we were glossing over. We faced it right from the beginning.
“Today, it’s about the Speaker, who deemed it fit to say that ‘this is time to look back and give back to a sector that I truly believe in.’ So, Mr Speaker and the Chairman House Committee on Health, we want to thank you for bringing this to Lagos.”
On his part, the Chairman, House Committee on Health, Rep. Tanko Sununu, said Nigerians are appreciative of the proactive measures taken by the Lagos State governor toward containing the coronavirus since its outbreak in Nigeria, as well as his continuous surveillance and interventions.
“This training, is very important being about ethics, which is a systematic strategy of what a person’s conduct and actions should be with regards to self, whether humans and the environment, couldn’t have come at a better time than now, when Nigerians, most especially medical and healthcare providers are passing through a lot of stress.
“The training will serve the practitioners with the best conduct expected of them while providing health service with empathy in order to have an excellent outcome for patients”.
Also, the Minister of State for Healthcare, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora, lauded the Speaker for organizing the training, which he said would go a long way in achieving its objectives of improving the capacity of the health workers.
“This training represents the quest and desire for improvement, growth and development in the health sectorn. Any system that has no interest in training programmes for the personnel or fails to give training the importance it deserves has inevitably planned to fail or fizzle out completely
“In order to keep pace with quality delivery of services, there must be deliberate and committed efforts to ensure that continuous training and capacity building remain at the center of the institution’s mandate,” he said.

By Mike Oboh

House of Representative Speaker , Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila has advocated for a legal framework that will change the federal character principle for appointments in the country’s constitution.

Gbajabiamila said on Saturday at the Young Parliamentarians Forum National Strategy Meeting in Abuja that the section of the constitution which place emphasis on appointments in offices at the national level should be looked into to accommodate the needs of the moment.
He said the idea of basing such appointments  on federal character in line of states of origin or religious cleverage  has not helped  in the pursuit of the needed development of the country.

He said as it is today politics is in the hand of the old hence he charged the Young Parliamentarians Forum to ensure they change the tides for the young to be involved in politics to advance they desire quest.
He said any plan that does not involve the youths in the future development of the country will definitely fail as the need attention is centred on them.
Gbajabiamila said the House is concerned about how. to find solutions confront the younger ones in the country with it focus on how best to find jobs, involve them in the political structure of the country.
He noted that the education of the younger ones should be the centre point for the development of the country.

The Speaker said the House will be re conved soonest from its recess  to address the major needs of the youger ones as demanded by the #Endsars protest.

He said the House will consider what will effectively  take charge of the things which will enhance the development  of the youths in the consideration of the next years budget.
Also speaking, the Executive  Director, YAIGA, Cythia Mbanalu said  #Endsars protest  has affirmed a new Nigeria and called for relevant authorities to ensure youth education and participation in government. She also demanded from the NASS Assembly to further reduce reduction of the age for youths to vie for elective position in the country.

The House of Representatives is determined and ready to empower the Nigerian youth to make them competitive globally, the Speaker of the House, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, said on Wednesday.
Gbajabiamila said issues concerning the Nigerian youth have been a priority to the 9th House, which was the reason behind several proactive measures to address them, even before the outbreak of the recent youth protests around the country. This emerged when Speaker Gbajabiamila met with a group of young lawmakers from the House under the aegis of ‘Young Parliamentarians Forum’ of the National Assembly in his office, where he reiterated that some of the demands of the youth following the EndSARS protests would be addressed constitutionally. 
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Lanre Lasisi, the Speaker said, “All of us, every segment of the government, especially the House of Representatives, that before the protests took the initiative, debated motions and took far-reaching decisions on the floor.
“Part of the decision was to reform the Police to accommodate a better, more reformed Police. 
“We gave ourselves 30 days, and since then, we’ve been working night and day, especially with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
“We thought the best way to go about it is that we amend the Police Service Commission Act, and that has been done and the report has been concluded and soon, it will be published and be on the floor.

“We are determined to resolve the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) matter, and if we can resolve two out of three issues, I think we would have gone a long way to help the lecturers who are on strike.
“There’s a bill on vocational education, I think from the 8th Assembly that was even my bill. We’ll pick it up again and pass it to you (Young Parliamentarians Group) to polish it up and add it to whatever ideas you have”. 
On youth empowerment, the Speaker said though a lot still needs to be done but that the present government has done a lot. 
“I make bold to say that no government, in Nigerian history from inception, and I stand to be corrected, has put in as much in youth empowerment as this present government. 
“Facts don’t lie, a government that has devoted N500bn to youth empowerment every year. There’s Trader Moni, N-Power, and several others, they are all there.
“This government has done a lot about youth empowerment and is ready to do more. We can never be bereft of ideas. If you have anything that we need to look at, the House is willing and ready to add to those ideas.
“We will be happy to accelerate bills on youth development”.
Earlier, the young parliamentarians commended the leadership quality of the Speaker for his various interventions on national issues. 
The leader of the delegation, Rep. Kabir Tukur a, noted in particular, the proactive measures taken to address Police reforms and EndSARS demands.
The young federal lawmakers also commended the Speaker for his interventions on labour issues in health, education and power sectors.
While presenting the demands of the group to the Speaker, Rep. Tukura said their major concern was a lasting solution to youth restiveness through the allocation of more resources to youth-related matters as well as education, especially vocational training.
The group also noted that the youth should be given a sense of belonging in government through better representation to enable them to bridge the existing gap, which was part of the reasons for the recent unrest.
To this end, he said, the group would be seeking the amendment of Section 171 of the Constitution to reflect federal character in accommodating the youth and people living with disabilities. 
While informing the Speaker of the group’s request for an emergency session of the House to discuss its demands, Tukur also added that the group would be seeking his support for the group’s push for the establishment of a National Youth Development Commission. 
Others at the meeting included Deputy Chief Whip, Peter Akpatason and Chairman, Committee on Inter-Parliamentary Relations, Rep. Zakariya’u Galadima, while Rep. Onofiok Luke, Rep. A. G. Suleiman, Rep. Shehu Kale and Rep. Saidu Abdullahi represented the Young Parliamentarian Forum.