News
Ajimobi promises shrewd management of endowment fund.
Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has disclosed that the recently introduced health insurance scheme is compulsory for all residents of the state, assuring that funds realized from the N50bn endowment will be judiciously utilized and well accounted for in line with the administration’s tradition of prudence, transparency and accountability.
The governor said that the N650 month subscription fee for the health insurance will be deducted from the salaries of workers in the state, stressing that the workers of state’s contractors will also be mandated to subscribe to the scheme.
Governor Ajimobi made these disclosures on Thursday at the official launch of the N50 billion HealthCare Endowment Fund, which attracted donations and pledges from International organisations, private sectors, government functionaries, traditional rulers and eminent personalities, for the restoration and transformation of government hospitals and health centres in the state held at the International Conference Centre, UI, Ibadan
He said “the recently introduced Health Care Insurance Scheme is a move in this direction. Our target is the active participation of all and sundry in the development, management and funding of Health Care Services. While I heartily appreciate the high level of subscription already recorded, I wish to enjoin all those who are yet to register to go forth now to enjoin the benefits.”
The governor explained that there are growing examples in Nigeria where private sector involvement in healthcare delivery is helping in no small measure to complement Government’s efforts in the provision of efficient and sustainable healthcare services, noting that as individuals and corporate bodies, everyone should give back to the system part of what the system has given to us.
Governor Ajimobi stated that private sector involvement in healthcare dates back to 1883 when compulsory sickness insurance was introduced in Germany for some categories of workers. Pointing out that this marked the establishment of the first model of mandatory healthcare insurance in the Western world.
According to him, “Our administration has also realized the fact that we cannot fund the health sector alone without the active support of, and assistance from, the private sector and corporate bodies. We must, therefore, do all within our capacity to promote and achieve healthy living in our State.
“The endowment fund will no doubt, take care of most of the issues which have arisen from the dearth of fund owing to the dwindling resources of Government. I therefore charge you all to join us in our avowed commitment to revolutionize the health sector for enhanced service delivery as our administration has identified and treated health as one of the cardinal sectors,” he added.
Governor Ajimobi, who charged everybody to take the issue of their health seriously with regular check-ups, stated that the government has constituted a Board of Trustees consisting of eminent personalities and people of high moral standing to manage the fund, saying “let me assure you all that the Fund we are endowing today will be judiciously utilized and well accounted for in line with our administration’s tradition of prudence, transparency and accountability. As such, you are all assured of prudent application of the fund.”
In his address, the Chief Launcher at the Endowment Fund, Dr Paul Abolo said that health should not a humanitarian issue nor philanthropic, stating that it should be seen as the responsibilities of all to provide quality health care delivery.
The State Commissioner for Health, promised that the fund realized from the endowment fund will be used for equip the state hospitals, assuring that the Primary Health Centre in the state will be upgraded to international standard in the next 6months.
In his own speech, the Consultant on the endowment fund and Managing Director of HealthCare Communications noted that the concept of an endowment fund is international, stating that 30/40% of investment in Health comes from high networth individuals.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery has made headlines by announcing a further reduction in the price of diesel, dropping it from ₦1200 to ₦1000 naira per litre.
The refinery’s decision comes on the heels of its recent supply at a significantly reduced price of ₦1200 per litre, which was introduced three weeks ago, signifying a remarkable 30 per cent decrease from the previous market price of approximately ₦1600 per litre.
This substantial reduction in diesel prices at Dangote Petroleum Refinery is expected to reiterate positively throughout various sectors of the economy, potentially serving as a catalyst in alleviating the persistently high inflation rate in the country.
In a statement last week, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s wealthiest individual and the owner of the refinery, expressed his optimism regarding the potential impact of the price reduction on inflation in Nigeria.
“I believe that we are on the right track. I believe Nigerians have been patient, and I also believe that a lot of goodies will now come through. There’s quite a lot of improvement because if you look at it, one of the major issues that we’ve had was the naira devaluation that has gone very aggressively up to about ₦1900,” he remarked.
As anticipation builds around the implications of this move by Dangote Petroleum Refinery, stakeholders and consumers alike remain hopeful for the positive effects it could bring to the Nigerian economy in the coming months.
More than 50,000 Russian military personnel have died during the Ukraine conflict, the BBC reported Wednesday, citing its own reporters, independent media group Mediazona and volunteers.
They found that more than 27,300 Russian soldiers died during the second year of the war, a 25-percent increase on the first year.
BBC Russian, Mediazona and volunteers have been counting deaths since February 2022, using open-source information from official reports and the media, as well as using satellite images of Russian cemeteries to estimate the number of new graves.
The figure of more than 50,000 is eight times higher than the official toll acknowledged by Moscow in September 2022. It does not include deaths of militia in Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine said in February that it had lost 31,000 soldiers, but that figure is also likely to be significantly lower than the true toll.
Russian losses spiked in January 2023 as it launched a large-scale offensive in Donetsk and again months later last year during the battle for the city of Bakhmut.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” at dawn on February 24, 2022, which has since turned into a bloody and attritional war, isolating Russia from the Western world.
Responding to the report, the Kremlin said it did not disclose any information on military deaths and casualties, which falls under the remit of the defence ministry.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added official secrets laws and those covering what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine meant it was “absolutely understandable” that the ministry did not release the figures.
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has disclosed that 95 million Nigerians need to enroll for the National Identification Number (NIN) to meet its target of 200 million enrollments by 2025.
Kayode Adegoke, Head of Corporate Communications at NIMC, emphasised the importance of this enrollment during an interview on X over the weekend.
He stated, “For NIMC to meet the 200 million target by 2025, 95 million Nigerians need to register for the NIN.”
Adegoke revealed that over 105 million NINs have been issued to Nigerians and legal residents so far.
He assured Nigerians of the commission’s commitment, saying, “We want to assure Nigerians that within the next one or two years, we will reach our target of enrolling all Nigerians.”
“The NIN serves as a unique identifier for each citizen and has become increasingly important for various government initiatives aimed at improving security, governance, and service delivery.”
Adegoke highlighted the efforts to streamline the modification and enrollment processes under the leadership of Abisoye Coker, the director-general of NIMC. He announced the development of a self-service platform, allowing Nigerians to make necessary modifications such as changing names, dates of birth, email addresses, and phone numbers from anywhere, using different devices.
Emphasising the convenience of the self-service modification portal, Adegoke encouraged Nigerians to utilize this innovative solution.
He noted the evolution of the process, citing the past requirement for applicants to visit NIMC offices for data corrections.
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