Chairman senate committee on primary healthcare and communicable diseases, Chukwuka Utazi, Wednesday joined other stakeholders to examine current level of education and health care coverage in Nigeria lamenting that huge gaps were unacceptable.
The stakeholders speaking at an event on ‘Public policy implication of aggregate income and wealth inequality in Nigeria’ noted that a huge number of Nigerians especially in rural areas, still lack access to basic health care.
The organised by the Centre for Public Policy Alternative, while assessing the amount allocated to the two sectors, concluded that they do not reflect the drive of government towards building resilience in the education and health sectors.
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Accordingly Utazi, “We want the medical practitioners to make the health sector work efficiently, if the private hospitals are strong enough there will not be so much health tourism like it is today. So it is high time we look away from the government’s provision”.
Speaking further, Utazi stressed talks are ongoing to encourage the members of the House of Representatives on taking ownership of the development of the various dilapidated care centers around the country.
Akpojiyovbi Mojisola, CEO, Centre for Public Policy Alternative (CPPA), said that there is a need to strengthen the deficiencies identified in the health and education sector as they are critical to the national development.
“Everyone talks about these issues but very few acts to change the narrative, we are here to find the pathway to bridge the identified gaps and make sure the government is responsive and accountable”.
Melvin Ayogu, Senior Fellow-in-residence in his presentation, explained that ensuring adequacy in the health and education sector is critical in bridging the poverty and inequality gap that exists in Nigeria.
He said, “Social investment in health and education raises the prospect if inter-generational mobility as well as creates inclusive opportunities”.
Ayogu speaking further warned that the current condition o the living together but growing apart in prosperity and diminished hopes of a better life for the future generation is bad and poses a fragile future for the nation at large.
He stressed that widespread poverty and extreme inequality weakens the social fabric and make it difficult to hold government accountable for its failures adding that there is a need to caution the tendency of externalizing social issues by shirking civic responsibilities as often demonstrated by the citizens.
“Good governance is not self-implementing but it s co-created through the shared responsibility, and the nature of our investment in human capital development will determine what the future holds for us as a nation”.
