Delta Monarchs Advocates Birth Control Policy, Free Universal Healthcare … Says Nigeria Sitting On Gunpowder

Members of NIPSS with the State Government Officials in Asaba

WARRI/Nigeria: Traditional Ruler in South South Nigeria, the Olu of Warri, HRM Ogiame Ikenwuli, had charged the Federal Government to consider an effective birth control policy to combat the scourge of an unhealthy population.

Disclosing this while playing hosting to Course 41 Participants of the Nigeria Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, near Jos, the monarch said that Nigeria was sitting on a keg of gunpowder if it allowed indiscriminate childbearing without adequate provision for their welfare.

He lamented the torment of banditry and kidnapping that has pervaded the country in recent times and called on the Federal Government to create job opportunities to engage idle youths and tackle restiveness.

In the same vein, he called for the resuscitation of the Koko and Warri ports so that they can perform optimally, stressing that both facilities have the capacity to create absorb thousands of unemployed youths in the environs.

Although he commended the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, he observed that the spate of insecurity in the country had reached sickening heights, even as he charged the institute to look into the challenge and proffer solutions accordingly.

Contrary to assertions in the media that Nigeria has become the poverty headquarters of the world, the monarch tended to disagree, stressing that the nation had enough resources to cater for her citizens if properly managed.

Earlier in his remarks, the Acting Director-General of the Institute, Jonathan Juma mni, appreciated the king for his warm reception, adding that the essence of their visit was in line with the mandate of the institute to think out ways of a sustainable free universal healthcare coverage.

He said that despite the resources deployed into the healthcare delivery sector by the three tiers of government, Nigeria has fared poorly, noting that the institute was committed to recommending the right policies to government from their broad-based research.

Free Universal Healthcare

Meanwhile, The Ovie of Oghara Kingdom in Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State, HRM Noble Oyibo Eshemitan, while also playing host  members of the Nigeria Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) has called on Nigeria administrators to think out ways of developing a free universal healthcare scheme for Nigerians.

The Ovie gave the charge while playing host to course participants of NIPSS who paid him a courtesy visit as part of their study tour to the local government, stressing that the theme of the study “Funding Universal Healthcare Delivery in Nigeria” was germane to ameliorate the financial burden on the masses to procure healthcare.

While giving a briefing history of the community, the monarch said that Oghara hosted the state teaching hospital, a general hospital, four health centers and five maternities as well as a plethora of alternative medicine homes, adding that “patronage to these health centers is based on the economic strength and beliefs of patients’.

“As the nation’s foremost think-tank institution, I hope that this study tour will give you insightful information that will be a guide in the training of our bureaucrats, leaders and senior military officers in fashioning policies and actions that will bring improvement in our country.

An inquiry or study of the funding of universal healthcare delivery in communities in communities and by extension Nigeria would definitely open inroads towards improving the welfare of the citizenry” he commented as he briefed them on the history, geography and culture of Oghara.

Earlier in his address, the Local Government Chairman, Hon Solomon Golley stated that “In the journey towards the Universal Health Coverage, Governor Okowa signed the bill to establish the Delta State Contributory Health Commission Law in 2016”

Golley added that the Local Government had gone beyond the traditional maternal and neonatal healthcare and has taken giant strides in caring for the registered widows in the state social welfare scheme

In his remarks, the Director-General of the institute, Jonathan Juma mni, said that the course was expected to last for the duration of 10 months during which participants drawn from various sectors were expected to strengthen their capacities towards the development of the health sector.