OYSG to establish own Cardiovascular Centre in 2017 – Ajimobi

By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan.
Governor Abiola Ajimobi on Thursday said Oyo State Government is now ready to establish its own Cardiovascular centre in Ibadan.
The governor dropped this hint at the opening of the Two-Day ‘Legislative Advocacy Retreat for Oyo State House of Assembly on Increase Domestic Funding for Health Especially Child and Family Health Issues’ at the Begonia Hotel in Oyo.
Speaking through the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Azeez Adeduntan, the governor declared that the proposed establishment of a Cardiovascular Centre in Ibadan was part of the efforts towards improving the state of the health institutions and people of the state.
Governor Ajimobi stressed that the centre is expected to perform functions such as treating heart related problems, take care of patients who need heart surgeries and attend to other heart related issues within and outside the state, saying,
“we are going to attend to between 10 to 20 patients with Cardiovascular issues in a month.
“And as I told you earlier on, health is for all, we don’t discriminate when it comes to health. Now, what the Governor want to do is to reduce capital flight, money that suppose to be retained in Nigeria, money of Nigerians that we are spending in India, Indians are not better than us, the only thing they have better than us is good leadership, that is why now in Oyo State, we are ready to move the state forward”he said.
He maintained that the centre is to commence operation early next year (2017) and starts full operation by the end of year 2017, saying the Cardiovascular centre would be based on Public-Private Partnership (PPP), arrangement to ensure its sustainability.
“When you said how possible, it is God that knows, getting things done belongs to God, but with the support of God and the Governor, we expect the foundation laying in the new year and by the grace of God, it will be functional in the later part of 2017”.
He added “one of the reasons I am on board is that our people are going to India, We are saying Indians are not better than us, Americans are not better than us, somebody has an open heart you are going to India, somebody has open heart, you are going to Egypt, in fact what even pained me is that some people are going to Pakistan, India, Pakistan are not better than Nigeria, that is why the Governor is moving the healthcare system forward to ensure that we have a Cardiovascular centre to take care of Nigerians irrespective of their sex, race or creed”.
The governor disclosed that the project will be based on PPP arrangement considering the fact that “there is no money in government”, adding, “gone are the days where government wait to get money from Abuja, there is no money in government, this is not peculiar to Nigeria alone, it is going to based on PPP base because government cannot do it all”.
“Why it is based on PPP arrangement is that government cannot do it alone, because whatever what government do alone may not see the light of the day, that is why it is on PPP, people would be involved, because we don’t want a situation where it will be established and later collapse”.
The retreat was organized by Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health (PACFaH) in collaboration with Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria (HERFON).