By Asmau Ahmad
The MTN Foundation says it has so far spent N469 million on the renovation and equipping of 24 hospitals in six states in Nigeria.
The Chairman of the Foundation, Mr. Julius Adelusi-Adeluye, disclosed this at Shagari town, headquarters of Shagari Local Government Area in
Sokoto State.
Speaking at the inauguration of a maternity ward, Adelusi-Adeluye said that the project was executed in partnership with the state government.
The chairman, who was represented by a Director in the foundation, Mrs. Pamela Sadauki, said the benefiting states are: Sokoto, Abia, Cross River, Oyo, Kaduna and Niger.
“The projects were executed under the foundation’s maternal ward support project, phase III.The project is designed to contribute to the reduction of maternal and infant mortality in Nigeria. This is done by building modern maternity wards where women would love to have babies,” he said.
Adelusi-Adeluye further stated that the maternity wards in each of the benefiting hospitals were renovated and provided with a nurses’ bay.
Similarly, they were each provided with 20 hospital beds, foldable ward screens, bedside cupboards, drip stands, two incubators and baby cots among others.
The chairman explained that the gesture was part of the social responsibility of the firm to the country.
Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who was represented by the Commissioner of Health, Dr. Balarabe Kakale, commended the foundation for the intervention.
Tambuwal urged husbands in the state to allow their pregnant wives to attend ante-natal clinics.
The governor said that the state government had been making necessary efforts to reduce maternal and child mortality.
“The governor has also directed that, henceforth, all victims of emergencies, including road traffic crashes, should be treated free of charge and without waiting for police reports by all health facilities across the state and other formalities should be done after saving the lives of the victims,” Tambuwal said.
