Zulum Pays Late Night Visit To Bama Hospital
By Abdulkareem Haruna
Governor of Borno State, Northeast Nigeria, Babagana Zulum, on Monday, Sep.5, paid an unscheduled visit to patients at the General Hospital in Bama town.
Bama, a commercial town 72km away from Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, was until 2018, a den of the Boko Haram terrorists who captured the area for many years.
Zulum was in Bama on Monday night ahead of a three days working visit which included the on-the-spot monitoring of healthcare facilities and quality of service delivery to the public.
The governor arrived at the hospital at 10pm where he met and interacted medical personnel and patients.
“The governor has since formed the habit of paying surprise visits at night to general hospitals and primary healthcare centres while he goes to schools early mornings and at other times to observe quality of public services and to track down workers who do not take their jobs seriously,” Isa Gusau a media adviser to the governor said.
The governor did not hide his delight at the presence of the nurses and the medical doctor on duty.
The hospitals medical director, Olugbenga Aina, conducted the governor round the hospital for an on-the-spot assessment of service delivery during which he interacted with the patients and
sought to know from the medical doctor and nurses the challenges facing the hospital.
“Though not directly brought to his notice, the governor observed, by himself, that some air-conditioners and fans at the wards were not functioning while the solar system providing alternative electricity needed to be upgraded,” Mr Gusau noted in a press statement shared with The Humanitarian Times.
“Zulum had also directed the hospital’s management led by the chief medical director to compile an urgent report on their immediate needs and submit to him through the state’s commissioner of health, Professor Mohammed Arab, who is in Bama with the governor.
“Governor Zulum also announced automatic employment opportunities to citizens of Bama who possess medical qualifications to serve as medical doctors, nurses and pharmacists in order for them to increase the current number of medical personnel at the general hospital and primary healthcare centres.”
