President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Ilorin says his administration is committed to supporting the ongoing reforms in the health sector.
Buhari gave the assurance at the inauguration of a new National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) building for the Kwara office.
The president, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, said his administration attained significant achievement in Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in the country with the operationalization of the basic healthcare provision funds and assent to NHIS bill that had since metamorphosed into NHIA.
The president also threw his weight behind the efforts of the NHIA to enable Nigerians and legal residents to access quality healthcare.
He acknowledged that the health and well-being of the citizenry were critical to the development of the country.
Buhari commended Kwara Central Senator Yahaya Oloriegbe for the quality representation of his people.
“This event is yet another evidence of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration's focus on the establishment and maintenance of critical infrastructure across the length and breadth of our great country in order to address the need of our citizens and legal residents.
“The present administration is particularly interested in the health and well-being of its citizens.
“The health and well-being of the citizens of Nigeria are central to the progress and development of our country. We want to recognize the prominent position that the health sector has in the next level agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari,” he said.
He stated that the administration has also made a giant stride towards the UHC in Nigeria by ensuring the operationalization of the basic healthcare provision funds and signing the National Health Insurance Authority bill into law, thus becoming an act on May 19, 2022.
“Let me assure you that the federal government will continue to support the ongoing reforms and the efforts of the National Health Insurance Authority to improve access to quality healthcare for each and every Nigerian and legal resident,” he said.
The Chairman of, the Senate Committee on Health, Dr. Yahaya Oloriegbe, described the Kwara NHIA office as the first to be completed.
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He said one of the provisions of the law guiding the operation of the authority made it mandatory for Nigerians to be insured.
He disclosed that of the 11 Bills he sponsored, 10 scaled through in the Senate while four of them secured presidential assent.
Oloriegbe said: “The new NHIS office in Kwara is significant in many ways. This office is the first among the six that they are building. It is the first to be completed and commissioned in Nigeria.
“The significance of this is that when this project started, the agency name was NHIS, today it is NHIA by virtue of a law that I have the privilege to sponsor.
“That law is not only a change of name but it is a change of insurance environment in Nigeria. It is what President Muhammadu Buhari has been able to do to make health insurance mandatory in this country,” he said.
“Every resident in Nigeria, either you are a citizen or visitor, by virtue of that law, must have insurance, and the agency is in the process of ensuring this.
“The importance of that is that we know in Nigeria many people are poor. We have about 83 million of our population that cannot afford to pay for premiums because, in an insurance place, you must pay premiums.
“By law provided for the vulnerable group. So, today is also a sign of providing health to Nigerians. It is our hope that the incoming government will make that happen,” he said.
Prof. Muhammed Sambo, the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of NHIA, said this will help in the full decentralization of the authority’s business processes to the state offices.
He added that there is the provision of befitting and functional office space due to the growing human resource base to enhance the agency’s corporate image and improve services to enrollees.
On his part, Dr. Raji Razaq, the state Commissioner for Health, commended the Federal Government for playing a crucial role in the facilitation of federal presence in the state.
