By Asma’u Ahmad
The Federal Government has earmarked about N5.5 billion for intervention in the critical health sector in North-East Nigeria to address the devastation caused by the Boko Haram attacks.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, disclosed this while speaking at the opening of the “Operationalisation of Saving One Million Lives Programme for the North East’’ in Maiduguri, Borno state.
Professor Adewole said that the money would be channelled through the Task Force on the North East.
“President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the Task Force for the North East; the Task Force is a sub-unit of the Presidential Committee on the North East. The Task Force is under the direction of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and it is being chaired by the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr. Udoma Udo Udoma,” he said.
Adewole explained that the Task Force will focus mainly four critical areas of water, environment, health and nutrition issues to be chaired
by a minister in the next six months, to restore sanity in the four sectors.
He said: “I am the Chairman of the sub-committee on Health and our budget of N4.3 billion has been approved for the North East. That
budget will entail spending about N4 billion on health and nutrition for the sub-region with emphasis on Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, in other words, within the health sector.
“We are committing about N5.5 billion to Borno and the neighbouring states in the North East with respect to the urgency.”
He said that the gesture was a pointer to the level of commitment by the President Buhari on the sub-region.
He said that the ministry had also approved the supply of drugs and other commodities worth N1.2 billion to Borno to tackle health
challenges.
