Traditional rulers from different parts of the country have decried the level of decay and poor service delivery being suffered by Nigerians in the primary health care sector.
The royal fathers, including the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, lamented that many lives had been lost in the country due to poor management of the sector and called on the political leaders to look into the challenges with a view to finding lasting solutions to them.
They spoke in Jos on Thursday during a policy dialogue organised by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, entitled, “Funding universal healthcare delivery in Nigeria: Integrating the perspectives of traditional and religious Institutions.”
Sultan said, “Health is a very serious issue. Many lives have been lost in the country due to the challenges we are facing at the primary care level. There is too much money at the national level of health care and if these funds can be channelled at the grassroots, Nigerians will be better for it.”
He expressed the readiness of the traditional rulers to assist the government in addressing the health challenges at the grassroots “being closer to the people.”
The Olu of Warri, Ogiame Ikenwoli, noted that the primary health care system in the country had been bedevilled by lack of adequate funding and called on government to show more concern in that regard to enable it deliver on its mandate.
Earlier, Director General of NIPSS, Professor Habu Galadima said the dialogue was aimed at enriching the perspectives of eminent personalities who were nominated for the ongoing Senior Executive Course 41 of the institute so that their inputs could be integrated into their conclusions for onward presentation to Mr President for possible implementation.
By James Abraham,
The Punch