During the assembly probe, stakeholders lamented the state of Bayelsa’s health centers

The decrepitude of primary health care centers in Bayelsa State’s eight Local Government Areas is due to a severe lack of equipment, medical and health personnel.

This was the unanimous opinion of stakeholders as the State House of Assembly Joint Committee on Health, Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Community Development began an investigative hearing on Monday at the assembly complex in Yenagoa.

During the session, a legislator, Mitema Obordor, stated that the exercise was in response to a motion he moved on the House floor on October 11, 2021, calling attention to the non-functionality of the health facilities.

While describing the situation as regrettable, Obordor pointed out that motions and bills can arise from constituent complaints, and that the House has a statutory obligation to investigate such claims.

Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai, a committee member, stated that “over 80% of primary health care facilities are not functional because we have not drawn from the pool of available manpower, thereby avoiding brain-drain.”

In his remarks, Nigeria Kia, the chairman of Southern Ijaw LGA, told the committee that “councils provide N13m monthly for the Primary Health Care Board to carry out immunization across the state, in addition to paying salaries of the board’s staff.”

Kia, who is also the state chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, stated, however, that the lack of infrastructure in terms of equipment and medical and health personnel was still a major concern.
The chairman of the Primary Health Care Board, Victoria Denenu, stated that there is one health care facility in each of Bayelsa’s 105 political wards and thanked the councils for their support thus far.

Read also: Gbajabiamila sends Armed Forces Trust Fund, South-West Commission, and 18 other bills to the Senate for approval

She also informed the committee that the Federal Government recently released N63m directly to health centers (at N600,000), “however, the level of functionality of facilities remains a huge problem.”

Pabara Newton-Igwele, the state Commissioner for Health, however, stated that his ministry would deploy a drone system to deliver medical aid to people in remote areas.

He stated that the only way to achieve significant improvement in the primary health care sector was for stakeholders to work together.

Previously, Godbless Oyinke, Chairman of the Joint House Committee on Health, Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Community Development, stated that the committee would follow up on its investigation into the use and misuse of funds in the system and recommend appropriate punishment where necessary.

In addition, the committee’s co-chairman, Salo Adikumo, stated in his remarks that the goal of the exercise was to achieve good governance and bring functional health care facilities to the grassroots.