The Kebbi state government has told the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to face its business and stop meddling in the affairs of governance.
A statement by the Special Adviser to Kebbi State Governor on Media and Publicity, Yahaya Sarki made available to THESTORIES on Thursday, described the PDP as political losers and deluded interlopers, who should stop interfering in the affairs of the state government.
According to Sarki, the people of Kebbi state “have never had it so good than in the last one year that the state has ceaselessly been propelled on a trajectory of growth and socioeconomic prosperity, all courtesy of the Kauran Gwandu and his diligent, transparent, committed and dedicated government.”
Read the statement below:
The party, its leaders and members should therefore mind their own businesses, continue to lick their wounds, mend their fence and leave APC, the governor and his people alone. Let him be allowed to consolidate the good work he is doing for the good people of Kebbi State in peace and not pieces.
It is really awful and appalling that the bundle of the political losers and deluded interlopers shamelessly parading themselves as the leaders and critical stakeholders of the PDP in Kebbi State have to obnoxiously and carelessly interfere in the affairs of the reliable, tested and trusted Gov. Nasir Idris, Kauran Gwandu’s APC-led incumbent administration in the state.
As usual, it is not the habit of Kebbi APC to interfere in the affairs of PDP or respond to baseless and frivolous allegations from the PDP in the state, however the statement signed and released by Hon Garba Liman, the Public Relations Officer of State chapter of PDP on 5th June, 2024 captioned ‘ Hajj 2024: ENSURE STRICT EDHERENCE TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION OF POWER TRANSMISSION…PDP TELLS KEBBI GOVERNOR ‘ demands urgent response to clear the minds of good people of Kebbi State.
One wonders why these bunch of care-free and empty barrels in the PDP chose to be stalking a people-oriented Kebbi State Government, indefatigably being steered to exceedingly more greatness, to their utter dismay and their blind cronies who have now worryingly become so jobless that they do nothing but snitch on Gov. Nasir Idris, his able deputy, other dependable allies and lieutenants as well as the APC, the extant Africa’s leading political party.
It is pertinent to put a reminder to the PDP that the Governor and the APC have been founded on equity, justice, fair play and respect for the rule of law.
The governor has in the past one year of his illustrious and tangibly performing government been doing the needful and has never veered off the track as to trample on extant laws of the state, or even talk of contravening the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.
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Again, the Governor, his deputy, the State House of Assembly, the Judiciary, traditional institutions and all the peaceful, law abiding and patriotic critical stakeholders in the state have been enjoying a robust and mutual relationships in the last one year and so shall it be in the next coming years.
The essence of the above humble but factual submission is that the Land of Equity and its people have never had it so good than in the last one year that the state has ceaselessly being propelled on a trajectory of growth and socioeconomic prosperity, all courtesy of the Kauran Gwandu and his diligent, transparent, committed and dedicated government.
The crux here is therefore that this is not the first time the governor is traveling out of the country for official or personal reasons, and he has never failed to do the needful, hence there has never been any vacuum created by his legal absence.
Also, no aspect of governance has ever suffered and the people of the state have never lacked anything during such periods, but only reaping more and more dividends of democracy.
Therefore, now that the governor plans to travel for Hajj as admonished by Islam, what is the business of the PDP, or rather one ponders, does he have no right to do so? Yes, he absolutely has.
Similarly, it is extremely to remind the PDP in Kebbi State that APC and the Kebbi State Government always respect the law and they are aware of Section 190, Subsections 1 and 2, and they don’t really need any unwanted reminder from the PDP. The PDP should not be in a hurry, at least wait and see what happens before the governor leaves for Hajj.
The party, its leaders and members should therefore mind their own businesses, continue to lick their wounds, mend their fence and leave APC, the governor and his people alone. Let him be allowed to consolidate the good work he is doing for the good people of Kebbi State in peace and not pieces.
WHA: Collaborate now to bridge critical global surgical care, education gaps
The imperative need for collaboration to tackle critical gaps in surgical care and education around the globe gained fresh recognition at a high-level panel discussion during the 77th World Health Assembly (WHA).
This side event on May 30th highlighted the synergies between surgeons, policy makers, NGOs, academia and the private sector. The WHA’s main theme for the 77th assembly was ‘All for Health, Health for All’.
International charity Mercy Ships and fellow NGO, Operation Smile, partnered to organize a side event during the WHA in Geneva, Switzerland. The event, titled “Amplifying Synergies Between NGOs, Multilaterals, and Academia to benefit Surgical Patients,” took place on May 30th at the Hotel Beau-Rivage.
The side event panel discussion, which included speakers from universities and teaching hospitals from Zambia, Rwanda, South Africa and Peru, discussed how over 100 million additional surgical procedures are needed in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) each year to save lives and prevent disability.
Mercy Ships’ International Chief Medical Officer Dr Mark Shrime started the panel discussion by explaining that it was incumbent on people within NGOs, multilaterals and academia to break down the walls between them for the sake of the neglected surgical patients around the globe.
Dr. Wieslawa de Pawlikowski, a pediatric reconstructive microsurgeon and Director of International Cooperation Ministry of Health Lima, Peru said: “With the government sector, we can find the formula to give access to timely and quality surgical care to the population within and across our regions.”
Dr. Faustin Ntirenganya, President of the Rwanda Surgical Society and Consultant General & Onco-Plastic and Breast Surgeon at the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali, Rwanda said: “We have been talking about global surgery for quite long… I think we should stop talking about it and actually start doing it.”
Representatives from each nation spoke of alarming gaps in equitable access and quality of care and how they had only made limited progress. Dr. Ruben Ayala, Operation Smile Chief Policy and Advocacy Officer, moderated the discussion which was a landmark partner event for both NGOs.
Dr. Teri Reynolds, WHO’s Head of Clinical Services and Systems highlighted how 10 years from the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery called for action to help those in need but said it was far harder than it would have been before 2020.
She said: “We’ve come out of the COVID period with a surgical backlog that we will never overcome in our lifetimes unless we do something entirely different.” She added the pandemic had made the global challenge to tackle surgical gaps far worse as the narrative had shifted for how we protect ourselves from the next infective threat.
On May 29, WHA leaders in the assembly decided that a new Global Strategy and Action Plan for Integrated Emergency, Critical, and Operational Care (ECO) for 2026-2035 will be developed. Dr. Reynolds said although this was great progress more needed to be done to ensure this success progresses.
Dr. Salome Maswime, an obstetrician and gynecologist and Head of the Global Surgery Division at the University of Cape Town, highlighted both the importance of investment in teaching and educating public health specialists and decision makers to understand surgical systems and teaching surgical leadership and health systems leadership for all working in health systems and policy makers.
Dr. Maswime said: “So you have to teach not only the surgeons, but you also have to teach the public health specialists. But my biggest area, I think, is leadership. You can’t outsource leadership. You can’t donate leadership. You can’t run leadership for another country. We can donate equipment. We can do surgeries and operate, but you cannot outsource leadership. And our leaders are often not trained or prepared to run health systems.
“Our leaders often have been taught anatomy, physiology, pathology, and all of this. And then you expect them to fix the nation’s problems.”
She said in their classes they have politicians learning about surgery and leading systems.
She added: “And we feel that in that way, you start to change the next generation and change how people think and how they work. And you give them capacity to make better decisions for the future.”
Dr. Emmanuel Makasa, Executive Director of the Wits SADC Regional Collaboration Centre for Surgical Healthcare (WitSSurg) which is a significant initiative aimed at improving surgical healthcare within the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) stated: “There is a gap between political commitments and the translation of these commitments for patients.”
He said he believed policy is the only way to transform commitment into something that touches the patient.
Mercy Ships National and International Advocacy Manager Dr. Walt Johnson said: “If any of us want to get across the finish line by ourselves we will fail but all of us collectively can really synergize in amazing ways and can get across the finish line, maybe not in our lifetime, but eventually.”
Watch the discussion 77th WHA Side Event co-hosted by Mercy Ships & Operation Smile – YouTube (https://apo-opa.co/4aSD1OX).
APO Group
