By Amuda Dan Sulaiman Fab
Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi has inaugurated the newly constructed two-storey Administrative block built by the Federal Teaching Hospital (FTH) Lokoja.
It would be recalled that the former President Muhammadu Buhari had in March this year approved the upgrade of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Lokoja, to a Federal Teaching Hospital’s status.
The FTH Lokoja would serve as the teaching hospital for the College of Health Sciences, Federal University Lokoja (FUL).
Speaking at the inauguration in Lokoja, the Governor commended the federal government as well as the management and staff for their commitment to rapidly move the health institution from strength to strength.
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 infrastructure, equipment and human resources at all our state owned primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities.
“In most cases we totally reconstructed existing structures or built new ones from the scratch,” Bello said.
The governor stressed that his administration is working hard to meet the objectives and complement the institution’s efforts in a very strong way.
Also speaking, the Vice Chancellor of Federal University Lokoja (FUL), Prof. Olayemi Akinwunmi, thanked former President Buhari for upgrading the FMC Lokoja to FTH status.
The VC thanked the governor for his landmark achievements in the state health sector, assuring that the institution would do her best to consolidate on them.
Akinwunmi noted that most Kogi students seeking admission to study Medicine in other Universities of catchment area were being denied of admissions.
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 state’s 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.
Usman stressed that the development at FTH Lokoja had been of immense benefits to the indigenes and residents of Kogi and it’s environs.
He assured of the state government’s continued support for FTH Lokoja, adding that the governor had made giant strides in the health sector especially in infrastructure development.
The commissioner enumerated presence of equipment that were not found any were in Nigeria but at the Reference Hospital Okene, and sought the collaboration of FTH Lokoja by sending Residents for outside posting to enable them have experience and learn new skills.
In his remarks, 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 of 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.
The CMD stressed that the hospital had upgraded and expanded most of its departments and units, and also created new ones for effective service delivery.
He said that there had been a great collaboration between the FTH Lokoja and FUL, which have been of immense benefits to the people of Kogi and Nigeria at large.
The CMD appealed for the Governor’s support in the provision of Coastal bus, CT Scan, and transformers for improved power supply at the hospital.
The Provost College of Health Sciences, FUL, Prof. Mike Ogirima; and the Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, Dr Bernard Ododo and other dignitaries were present at the event.
The highlight of the occasion was the official commissioning the two-storey Administrative block by the SSG, Dr Folashade Ayoade, on behalf of the Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello.
