Princess Adejoke Orelope Adefulire, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals has restated that Federal government will continue to prioritize interventions with impacts on the lives of the poor and vulnerable Nigerians in the quest to achieve the 2030 Agenda.
Princess Orelope Adefulire spoke the official commissioning of a I20-bed President Muhammadu Buhari Mother and Child Centre in Gashua, Yobe State recently.
The facility, one of such Mother and Child Centres constructed and equipped by Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, OSSAP-SDGs, across the country was commissioned by President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan at a ceremony attended by officials of the state government.
It is equipped with state-or-the-art facilities including two Operating Theatres; Recovery Rooms; Private and General Wards; Scanning Room; Consultation Rooms and Laboratory. Others include, Ultra-Scan Machine; Vacuum Extractor delivery set; and an Emergency Cart with full compliments.
Speaking during the commissioning, Orelope-Adefulire said in fulfillment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s promise to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years, OSSAP-SDGs is committed to prioritizing key interventions with multiplier effects on multi-dimensional poverty, such as basic healthcare and education provisioning.
She added that with COVID-19 pandemic challenge, strategic interventions, such as the Mother and Child Centre, have become imperative to stop the pandemic from reversing decades of human development gains and undermine the achievement of the SDGs.
“This strategic intervention is directly linked to the achievement of SDG-3 on ‘Quality Health and Well-being for all’ as well as other cross-cutting SDGs. It is therefore expected that Yobe state government, and indeed other state governments benefitting from such intervention, will make judicious use of the facilities in a sustainable way for the benefit of our mothers and children.
“Let me conclude by re-affirming our commitment to the achievement of the SDGs by the year 2030. We will continue to prioritize interventions with potential impacts on the lives of the poor and vulnerable members of our society, so that no ‘Nigerian is left behind,’ the presidential adviser said.
Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire conducting Senate President Ahmad Lawan round the 120-bed Muhammadu Buhari Mother and Child Centre, Gashua, Yobe State
She also appreciated the President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan for his commitment to the success of the SDGs in Nigeria and the Governor of Yobe State, Alhaji Mai-Mala Buni, for his support and cooperation in the collective desire to implement the 2030 Agenda in Nigeria.
Speaking while commissioning the Mother and Child Centre, Senate President said the people of Yobe and Nigerians generally will benefit from states of the art equipment installed at the facility.
Lawan who commended OSSAP-SDGs for the diligence put in the execution of the construction of the Centre charged the beneficiaries of the project to take ownership of the facility while asking for more of such interventions.
“Like Oliver Twist, I want to thank the OSSAP-SDGs for giving us this and for what you are doing in Damaturu. But we wouldn’t mind getting more after Damaturu. Maybe in Potiskum and the other part of the state like Geidam.
“If we can get more budget, we will appreciate but on the whole and I want to say that what you have done will have a very positive impact on the lives of our people here in Yobe North and Yobe State generally and indeed the country,” Lawan said