Governor Bello commissions new administrative block at FTH
Governor of Kogi state, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, on Friday, commissioned the newly constructed two-storey Administrative block built by the Federal Teaching Hospital (FTH) Lokoja.
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Recall the former President Muhammadu Buhari had in March this year approved the upgrade of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Lokoja, to a Federal Teaching Hospital’s status.
The FTH Lokoja would serve as the teaching hospital for the College of Health Sciences, Federal University Lokoja (FUL).
Speaking at the inauguration in Lokoja, the Governor commended the federal government as well as the management and staff for their commitment to rapidly move the health institution from strength to strength.
Bello, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr Folashade Ayoade, noted that the Kogi health sector had undergone incredible renaissance in the last seven and half years under his New Direction Administration.
“We have done comprehensive upgrades of infrastructure, equipment and human resources at all our state-owned primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities.
“In most cases we totally reconstructed existing structures or built new ones from the scratch,” Bello said.
The governor also stressed that his administration is working hard to meet the objectives and complement the institution’s efforts in a very strong way.
Also speaking, the Vice Chancellor of Federal University Lokoja (FUL), Prof. Olayemi Akinwunmi, applauded former President Buhari for upgrading the FMC Lokoja to FTH status.
The VC also showed appreciation to the governor for his landmark achievements in the state health sector, assuring that the institution would do its best to consolidate them.
Akinwunmi however noted that most Kogi students seeking admission to study Medicine in other Universities in catchment area were being denied admission.
The VC assured that the institution would raise a massive corps of health practitioners by deliberately giving qualified Kogi students preferential consideration in all admission processes.
He also disclosed that the first set of BSc. Nursing in the College of Health Sciences, FUL, would be admitted this year while Faculty of Pharmacy would commence in first quarter of 2024.
The state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Zakari Usman, commended the FTH Lokoja’s management for the consistent progress made over the years, and for always complementing the efforts of the state government in quality healthcare services to the people of Kogi.
He assured of the state government’s continued support for FTH Lokoja, adding that the governor had made giant strides in the health sector, especially in infrastructure development.
In his remarks, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of FTH Lokoja, Dr Olatunde Alabi, noted that the construction of the new Administrative block was borne out of his desire to create more space for their staff for optimal performance.
Alabi however commended the state government for its consistent support and collaboration with the institution in terms of training its personnel, logistics, provision of consumables, among others.
Wumi/Tribune
