Metro

Nigerian doctors want 15% of budget allocated to health

Published

1 year ago

November 6, 2023

Medical doctors in Nigeria want Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu to allocate at least 15% of the 2024 annual budget to the health sector.

The doctors, under the aegis of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, argued that the health sector was too important to be neglected in the supplementary budget and stressed that it was unfortunate that the health sector was excluded from the supplementary budget despite its poor state.

The Nigerian legislature had last week approved a controversial N2.18 trillion supplementary budget for the 2023 fiscal year, which the government said was to fund urgent issues, including defence and security, as well as the provision of welfare packages for workers and poor Nigerians to cushion the biting effects of petrol subsidy removal.

The President of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr. Dele Abdullahi, in an interview on Sunday, said:

“It is sad that the health sector was not included in the supplementary budget. The health sector is in shambles, and a lot of things need to be done about the sector, but it was not considered in the budget.

“There are other things that need to be addressed in the health sector. I hope the government will make the 2024 budget for the health sector very reasonable because, since 2001, when the Abuja Declaration was made, Nigeria has never met that target.

“I hope the government will allocate at least 15% of the 2024 budget to the health sector in the 2024 budget. The Abuja Declaration commitment requires the nation to ensure that 15% of its annual budgetary allocation goes to health.”

NARD’s call is in line with the “Abuja Declaration,” in which African heads of state and governments under the African Union (AU) committed in April 2001 to dedicate at least 15% of their annual budgets to the health sector.

Nigerian doctors and the government have been at loggerheads over work allowances and working conditions but the government made some peace moves last week as President Tinubu cancelled an existing “No Work, No Pay” order that was instituted against striking members of the NARD on August 1, 2023.

The World Health Organisation states that obtaining domestic public funding is necessary to achieve universal health coverage (UHC), but not a single nation has advanced towards UHC without becoming more dependent on government funding.

Nigeria’s 2023 budget included over a trillion Naira in funding for the health sector— the highest in Nigerian health funding history. Despite the increase, only 5.75 per cent of the total budget is allocated to the health sector.

Related Topics:Featured Health Funding Nigerian Doctors

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Metro

Zambia’s ruling party UPND warns against personal attacks on President Hichilema

Published

6 hours ago

November 5, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Zambia’s ruling party, the UPND, has warned opposition politicians and critics against personal attacks on President Hakainde Hichilema as his meekness should not be mistaken for weakness.

Secretary-General of the UPND, Batuke Imenda, who gave the warning in a statement in Lusaka on Monday, urged political opponents to always engage in mature and issue-based discourse.

Zambia Monitor reports that Imenda’s warning, was directed at the leader of Zambia Must Prosper (ZMP) party, Kelvin Bwalya Fube, whose recent remarks Imenda described as “provocative” and a “feeble attempt to mislead citizens.”

“Provocative words uttered by Kelvin Bwalya against our party and President Hichilema are a clear demonstration of naivety,” Imenda said in the statement.

He further advised Bwalya to abandon personal attacks and focus on substantial political issues.

The UPND Secretary suggested that Bwalya’s attacks stemmed from a desire for relevance amid declining political fortunes, hinting at a possible alignment with former President Edgar Lungu.

“It appears KBF is hoping that Edgar Lungu might support his embattled political career by unjustly attacking President Hichilema,” he said.

Imenda defended the President’s record, highlighting that under Hichilema’s leadership, Zambia’s democratic space had expanded compared to the previous PF administration, which he accused of stifling freedoms.

He noted that while criticism was welcome, it should not devolve into baseless attacks, warning that opposition figures should not misinterpret Hichilema’s restraint as weakness.

Imenda also criticized Bwalya for overlooking the gains in transparency and justice since the change in government, claiming that past regimes were marked by resource mismanagement and corruption.

Metro

Following backlash, Nigerian govt withdraws treason charges against minors

Published

13 hours ago

November 5, 2024

Isaac Dachen

The Nigerian government has officially withdrawn the treason charges it entered against some minors who participated in the #EndBadGovernance protest that spread across the country from August 1 to the 10th.

The nation was thrown into shock on Friday when the Nigeria Police presented 76 protesters at the Federal High Court in Abuja on charges bordering on treason. Among the suspects were four minors who slumped before they could be arraigned before the court.

This caused serious uproar in the country with Nigerians condemning the government and calling for the unconditional release of the kids and the dismissal of the charges against them.

The decision to withdraw the charges against the underage accused came following a directive by President Bola Tinubu who ordered the immediate withdrawal of the charges and an in-depth investigation into what led to the arrest and detention of the minors.

Tinubu had also ordered the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, (SAN) to officially take over the case file as well as review the cases following public outcry that came with the arraignment of the minors.

The charges were finally withdrawn on Tuesday at the Federal High Court in Abuja through an application for discontinuance filled by the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), Mohammed Abubakar, on behalf of the AGF.

According to Abubakar, the discontinuance application was based on provisions of sections 174(1), (b) and (c) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and 108 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, 2015.

The DPPF also applied for further proceedings to be conducted without the presence of the minors in the courtroom, in line with provisions of Section 266(b) of the ACJA, 2015, and Section 1 of the Childs’ Rights Act.

In response, human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Fanala (SAN), who stood in for the accused as well as other defence lawyers in the matter, did not oppose the applications which promoted the judge, Justice Obiora Egwuatu, to strike out the charges, while the four affected minors were also delisted from the charge sheet.