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 stated that the hospital was 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. The development of the project was made possible through the Sustainable Development Goals, according to the Vice President.
VP Osinbajo further disclosed that the project was linked to Sustainable Development Goal number 3.
The Vice President emphasised that the hospital was an investment for the future while noting that the event represented the enormous progress made in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals in boosting the health and welfare of the country’s citizens.
“This centre 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 explained 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.
The VP said the federal government has taken a few steps to improve the quality of life of the citizens of the country.
He said that the Government has equally increased access to education, promoted sustainable agriculture and improved infrastructure across the country.
VP Osinbajo, however, noted that no young person should go through the frustration of joblessness anywhere in the country, hence, a skill acquisition centre 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 centers and facilities, especially for digital education and training.
“The skill acquisition centre is fully equipped with sowing machines, computers, welding and fabrication equipment as well as photography and vulcanizing equipment”, he said.
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, said that the project would further help to reduce maternal and child mortality.
Governor Abiodun said that Ogun State has a special programme tagged ‘Ibidero’ that allows indigent women in the state to give birth without paying.
He said 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 Nigerian Government to implement the Sustainable Development Goal known as the 2020 Agenda in the country.
Adefulure, who also noted that the Nigerian Government was 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, stated that the centre was fully equipped with the state of the art equipment.
