As reactions continue to trail the eviction notice handed down to the management of Garki Hospital, Abuja, by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Socio-Cultural Organisations of Nigeria (SON) has reacted, saying the development would compound health challenges in Nigeria.
SON, which is an umbrella body to the various ethnic groups across the country in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Chief Momohsani and sent to CAPITAL POST in Abuja on Thursday, said, the FCTA administration should look at the success story of the NISA group’s management of Garki Hospital and renew the Public Private Partnership (PPP) rather than eviction in the interest of Nigerians.
The group urged the Minister to leverage on the well equipped and adequate staffed NISA medical group to advance the provision of medical services to citizens living in FCT.
The organisations recalled that is
Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) outrightly rejected the decision of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to abruptly terminate its partnership arrangement with NISA medical groups on Garki hospital, adding that the issue of health sector was too critical to allow sentiments to play out.
Momohsani said there are non-performing hospitals in the Federal Capital Territory that should be a source of concern for the Minister’s intervention, thus, it would be the greatest mistake to end partnership arrangement with NISA.
Momohsani said: “The organization which is the umbrella of the various ethnic groups Association in Nigeria advised the FCT Minister to focus on the non performing hospitals within his jurisdiction, that Nigerians living in FCT are very comfortable and satisfied with service deliveries in Garki hospital.
The group reminded the FCT Minister that Nigeria is currently faced with challenges of brain drain of medical doctors and nurses who are daily leaving the shores of Nigeria for greener pastures, hence, the over 1000 medical personnel in the employ of Garki hospital would possibly be on their way out, if the NISA management is evicted.
The organisations insisted that Nigerians are watching with keen interest, how the FCTA intend to collapse already performing structure whereas there are other hospital’s in FCT that are bedevilled with management failures and structural decays demanding government attention.
They said: “We acknowledged the fact that contractual obligations can be terminated by any of the parties and in line with terms and conditions. But the short notice given to NISA medical group is not only a deliberate attempts to destabilize the hospital management, but also an attempt to collapse the Health Sector in the FCT.
“We therefore advised the FCTA authority to reconsider their earlier steps on this subject matter and sort out things with the hospital management”, stressing that it is the best PPP arrangements that had really worked for Nigerians over the years.
