By Peter Duru

President Muhammadu Buhari, Tuesday commissioned a 120-bed mother and child hospital built in Makurdi by the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, Office.

The hospital which was named after the President was commissioned on his behalf by the Secretary to the Government of the Federal, Mr. Boss Mustapha who represented him at the event.

The President in his speech said the health facility was part of the initiative of his administration to bring down the maternal and child mortality rate in the country.

“Nigeria is one of the countries with the highest mortality rates and with the commissioning of these projects both the maternal as well as child mortalities will be reduced,” the President said.

While stressing that the hospital was fully equipped with state of the arts facilities, the President disclosed that 15 of the same hospital had been completed in other states and awaiting commissioning while 12 were at various stages of completion.

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Speaking, Governor Samuel Ortom who was represented by his Deputy, Mr Benson Abounu, commended the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President, OSSAP, on SDGs for approving the project and ensuring its completion.

The Governor who assured that his administration would continue to ensure seamless execution of SDGs projects in the state disclosed that the state government had donated a piece of land close to the hospital for the building of a Doctors Quarters.

The Governor promised to link the hospital with the Benue State University Teaching Hospital for collaboration and utilization of the facility.

The Minister for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Senator George Akume, who commended President Buhari for sitting the project in the state said it would help curb the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This hospital will help in producing active and healthy citizens that can contribute to the development of the society as well as access affordable and quality healthcare services,” Senator Akume said.

Also, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, urged the Benue State Government and other state governments benefit from the intervention to make judicious use of the facilities for the benefit of mothers and children.

The Special Assistant to Ortom on SDGs, Prof. Magdalene Dura, who disclosed that the state had so far contributed N1.4 billion as counterpart fund to the SDGs appealed to the Federal Government to assist the state relocate the over 1.5million Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, in the state to their ancestral homes.

Vanguard News Nigeria