Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Saturday officially inaugurated a 100-bed Mother and Child Hospital in Iperu-Remo, Ogun State.
The project is a collaboration between the Ogun State Government and the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals.
The VP, who ascribed the development of the project which was made possible through the Sustainable Development Goals to the commitment of the President Muhammad Buhari-led administration, added that the hospital is a testament to the commitment of the incumbent at the federal level to the healthcare of women and children in Ogun and the country as a whole.
Osinbajo further disclosed that the project is linked to Sustainable Development Goal number 3.
While noting that the event symbolized the tremendous progress that has been made in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in promoting the health and welfare of all the people of the country, the VP added that the hospital is an investment for the future.
“This center is directly linked to the achievement of the SDG 3 for quality health and well-being for all as well as other cross-cutting SDGs.
“This hospital is indeed an investment for the future, a testament to the women and children all over our state.
“This hospital is a testament to our commitment to the healthcare of women and children for ensuring that we secure the future of Ogun State.
“This 100-bed Mother and Child centre is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities which include two operating centres, recovery rooms, private and general wards, scanning rooms, consultation rooms and laboratories, other facilities include an ultra scan machine and a vacuum extraction delivery set,” he said.
Osinbajo who also added that he would soon be commissioning another set of ongoing projects around the local government disclosed that an already completed 250 Bed Mother and Child Hospital in Ikenne and a 24 classroom in Ikenne Community High School would soon be commissioned for the use of the people of the local government and the state as a whole.
The VP who also disclosed that the Federal Government has taken some few steps to improve the quality of life of the citizens of the country, added that the FG has equally increased access to education, promoted sustainable agriculture and improved infrastructure across the country.
Osinbajo, however, noted that no young person should go through the frustration of joblessness anywhere in the country, hence, a skill acquisition center with a place for the development of human development had been provided.
“No young person should go through the frustration of joblessness, this is why we have ensured that we provide in collaboration with state and local governments, places for the development of human development. This includes technology hubs, skill acquisition center and facilities especially for digital education and training.
“The skill acquisition center is fully equipped with sowing machines, computers, welding and fabrication equipment as well as photography and vulcanizing equipment”, he said.
In his remarks, the Ogun State governor, Dapo Abioduqn while commending President Muhammad Buhari for adopting the Sustainable Development Goal and allowing the state to be a beneficiary of the project, added that the project would further help to reduce maternal and child mortality.
Abiodun said that Ogun State has a special programme tagged ‘Ibidero’ that allows indigent women in the state to give birth without paying, added that the programme also allows the state government to pay such women N5,000 for giving birth at the facility.
“We have a programme under the Ministry of Health that is called ‘Ibidero’, and that is the programme that allows our indigent women to come to a facility like this and give birth having enrolled in our healthcare programme, you will now give birth without having to pay anything.
“As a matter of fact, not only will they not pay anything, we actually pay them five thousand naira for coming here to give birth,” he said.
In her remarks, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, Mrs. Adejoke Adefulure, commended Governor Abiodun for his support and cooperation in the collective desire of the Federal Government to implement the Sustainable Development Goal known as the 2020 Agenda in the country.
Adefulure, who also noted that the Federal Government is committed to prioritizing key interventions with multiplier effects on multi-dimension poverty such as basic health care, skill acquisition and entrepreneurship centre to develop education, added that the centre is fully equipped with the state of the art equipment.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Ogun State Governor on Sustainable Development Goals, Damilola Otubanjo, while noting that the five Ps of Sustainable Development Goals are People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership, noted that it was on the premise of partnership that the state government was able to partner with the Federal Government on the project.
The Chairman, Ogun State Council of Obas and the Paramount Ruler of Remoland, Oba Babatunde Ajayi, who expressed his happiness at the project, noted that the project would go a long way to help improve the health of the mother and child in the state.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, who noted that Governor Abiodun has introduced EMR system across the three tiers of the health sector, also disclosed that there is an ongoing technology assisted central medical store to enhance the supply chain for the pharmaceutical industry in the state.
Coker added that there is an industrial size oxygen plant that has been completed at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, with two additional oxygen plants in progress to ensure unlimited access to oxygen supply in the state, noting that the state now has a twenty-four hours ambulance service.
