The National Economic Council (NEC) has endorsed the agreement between the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the governors of the 36 states of the federation to improve healthcare service delivery.
Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the monthly NEC meeting chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villla in Abuja, Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi state said the decision was reached following a presentation on the Health Sector Renewal Programme by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Ali Pate.
He said the presentation outlined the challenges in health sector from financing, human capital and supervision.
“There was a resolution of council that the World Health Organisation is coming in December 15, all the governors will come and sign a compact agreement in terms of service compact.
“Governors will be able to reiterate our determination to approach the health sector in terms of budgeting, given it the required impetus, the required attention that it deserves.
“The National Economic Council received a presentation from the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare on Nigeria’s Health Sector Renewal Programme which looked and dissected in terms of very robust sector scan on health.
“From tertiary to the primary level, looking at all the gaps, the problem and challenges of funding, and even of the need for renew interest by stakeholders, mostly governors at the subnational level, experts, doctors and everybody.
“And of course the Renewed Hope that President Bola Tinubu’s administration is trying to establish in trying to bring synergy and collaboration between all the various stakeholders in the country.
“And they are trying to make sure that they establish a compact in a manner that we will be able to generate resources from everywhere,” he said.
He said without the health sector being taken care of, the country would not have the necessary technological development.
…approves establishment of National Flood Management Council
The National Economic Council (NEC) Thursday recommended the establishment of National Flood Management Council to effectively coordinate response and mitigate flood disasters in the country, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state has said.
The governor said this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the 137th NEC meeting presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the State House in Abuja.
He said the proposed council would be domiciled in the Office of the Vice President. “Upon advice from this council to the President depending on the magnitude of the flood, especially if it is category four, then the President will declare a State of Emergency.
“We recommended annual budget for both states and federal and local governments. Ecological Fund for states and the Federal Government.
“Natural Resources Development Fund, Special Intervention Fund, Disaster and Emergency, Climate Sensitive Budget Approach, Wind Bond, Blue Bond, PPP Approach and others including foreign interventions,” he said.
He said President Bola Tinubu would take proactive steps in ensuring the implementation of the NEC recommendation to address the perennial flood disaster in the country.
“In pursuit of President Tinubu Renewed Hope Agenda. You recalled that on October 12, Tinubu represented by the vice-president Shettima, inaugurated a Presidential Committee on Flood Mitigation, Adaptation, Preparedness and Response.
“Mr President is very concerned about ensuring that there is a lasting solution to that. So this particular committee was set up in order to come up with a roadmap with a view of tackling the flood problems head on.
”And we were given seven days to review the various reports and various committees set up by the Federal Government and we came up with this roadmap,” he said.
Also speaking, the Minister of Budget and National Planning Mr Abubakar Atiku Bagudu said Chief Executive Officer of the African Reinsurance, a leading reinsurance company in Africa, made two presentations to NEC on natural catastrophe insurance.
”This is particularly so as observed by the vice-president that Morocco recently had a catastrophic and devastating earthquake. But yet Africa Reinsurance, leading other insurance provided over 270 million dollars support to those who were affected because they were insured.
“The Vice President felt this is an opportunity to also introduce national catastrophe insurance to Nigeria with the likelihood that the Federal Government will provide the support to ensure that we have a natural catastrophe insurance,” he said.
The minister said the company made a presentation on crop insurance to help farmers, pastorals and small scale holder farmers to obtain insurance to protect their crops against disaster.
”Again, the Vice President advised states to utilise the opportunity provided by the Africa Reinsurance in helping to deliver insurance to small scale holder participants in the agricultural space in their respective states.
”Associated with this the council resolve and directed that the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance and the Minister of Budget and National Planning work to chat a roadmap that can see us adopting both insurance,” he said.
Source: Verify News
