*Obaseki reassures on the project’s realisation
*Inaugurates board for Primary Healthcare Development Agency
Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City
Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has said his government was committed to the development of a new airport in Auchi, Edo North Senatorial District of the State.
In a statement at the weekend, Obaseki said the federal government had given the state tentative approval for the Auchi Airport, noting that the government was working with aviation experts to finalise the survey of the airport project.
According to him, “The charting of the airport is already ongoing to ensure the safety measures required for an approval of the airport project as safety is the main consideration. We want to make sure that the approaches for landing into the airport runway are clear and safe for landing and will not endanger the aircraft.”
“These are the final reports and studies that are being conducted and as soon as we get final approval, we will break ground and commence construction of the Auchi Airport.”
On the need for the new airport in Edo North, Obaseki said, “This is not a political project. Between Benin City and Abuja on this axis, which is more than 600 km, there is no airport.
“From the transportation standpoint, it makes a lot of commercial sense to have an airport in Edo North. More importantly, there are emerging businesses, particularly in the areas of mining and academia.
“There are two cement companies producing over six million tonnes of cement in this axis. There are a lot of activities to support an airport in this area.”
Meanwhile, Obaseki at the weekend, inaugurated the governing board for the state’s Primary Healthcare Development Agency.
Speaking at the inauguration of the board at the Government House, in Benin City, Obaseki said the board would help bolster government’s efforts at repositioning the healthcare system and promoting access to quality healthcare services by the people.
He said, “This is a significant development in the repositioning of our healthcare system. We have always emphasised that our healthcare superstructure rests on the primary healthcare system because that is the point in which the bulk of our citizens can engage with the health system.
“The board has been restructured, the law has been reviewed, and what we have now is adequate for us to start and get to the level we want to.”
The governor who noted that his administration was committed to establishing at least one primary healthcare center in every ward in the state to ensure every citizen has access to quality healthcare services, also noted, “You will help us rapidly expand primary healthcare using the resources available, collaborate with EdoHIS; encourage collaboration with other sectors at all levels in the development and support of primary healthcare systems to avoid waste of resources and duplication of efforts; supervise and oversee the running of primary healthcare facilities in the state; promote and monitor the implementation of our health plans at various levels of the primary healthcare system and ensure effective implementation and supervision of all primary healthcare activities as well as monitor the maintenance of the minimum acceptable standard in our primary healthcare.”
He added, “We need to change the health seeking behavior of our people and ensure that there is effective community involvement and participation in healthcare activities from inception to execution. Go into the communities and make the people know what we have been doing in the healthcare system.
“Develop effective programmes for training and retraining of primary healthcare providers in the state. Strengthen referrals and linkages in other branches of the healthcare sector especially in the areas of maternal and child health, reproductive healthcare and other ailments with the view of significantly reducing morbidity and mortality.
“I will expect periodic reports from you based on the data that you pick from the field. We expect that there will be a sound database for effective planning, implementation and supervision of primary healthcare activities in the state which will be done again based on the data which you are collecting daily from the field.”
The chairman of the board, Dr. Felix Ogedegbe, while responding on behalf of the board, applauded the governor’s drive to take quality healthcare services closer to the people.
He said, “The reconstitution of the agency, the appointment of the executive secretary and now, the inauguration of the board goes to show the commitment and emphasis the governor places on repositioning of primary healthcare in Edo state.
“You have put much emphasis in developing a virile primary healthcare system for Edo State and have chosen us to help in doing this. I am pleased to say that we expect to achieve all of the things you have set out for us to achieve.”
