Ahead of 2023 presidential election, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Kogi State Coordinator of National Prosperity Movement (NPM), Dr Abutalib Major Musa, said Nigeria’s major problem at the moment is finding the most suitable, desirable and satisfactory leader to steer the ship of the country in the right direction.
Speaking with newsmen in Lokoja on Saturday, Dr Abutalib said the nation needs a leader who can improve on current achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari, especially in the health sector.
Dr Abutalib, a medical doctor, said the Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, fits the bill and has all it takes to turn the nation’s health sector around.
He posited that with Fayemi as President, Nigeria will witness unprecedented investment in the health sector, coupled with strategic overhaul of primary, secondary and tertiary health institutions with adequate and well motivated manpower.
He said the emphasis on the health sector is hinged on the fact that a healthy population would engender economic productivity and improve life expectancy.
“Dr. Kayode Fayemi is a man of profound thinking, with sharpened administrative skill and great leadership capacity. His strides in the health as Governor of Ekiti state speak volumes. He has embarked on rehabilitation of many primary health facilities across the state. The general hospitals are also undergoing massive rehabilitation across the 16 local government. The state’s tertiary health facility, Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) has witnessed phenomenal growth in terms of expansion and building of structures to host the different departments of the hospital. More importantly, the administration saw to the full accreditation of the institution which led to the graduation and induction of the first set of students of the institution after a decade of studentship.
“Last month, specifically in December 2021, Ekiti State Government, under the leadership of Dr Fayemi, partnered Massachusetts Institute of Technology Governance Laboratory (MIT/GOVLAB) for improved healthcare delivery that would give more dividends to patients and service seekers. The system called ‘Governance Innovation Lifecycle Challenge and Accelerator’ is a programme designed to improve patient-driven healthcare services in Ekiti state.
“Nigeria has experienced at least one outbreak per year in the last ten years and that means the nation needs a leader that is ready and prepared to increase investment in health care sector as a way to getting the country ready for future disease outbreaks, epidemic or pandemic. In the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Fayemi strengthened public health security in Ekiti state, decentralized testing to 145 testing centres, the highest in the country. He also improved the state’s disease surveillance capacity to pick up early signals of possible outbreaks.
“We can not afford to gamble in 2023. We need a prepared, intelligent leader with robust mind as President. That is why I want to add my voice to the clarion call on Dr Fayemi to join the 2023 presidential race,” he said.
Dr. Abutalib, a former head of Kogi State Hospital Management Board, said he is confident that Fayemi will make a great President, if he decides to run.
