New Telegraph

With Oyetola, all lives matter

Both on-site and online, there has been an observable acknowledgement of the works of Governor Adegboyega Oyetola in Osun State. Of course, anyone who is addressed as “His Excellency” is trailed by popular demand to perform excellently.

 

But it is awe-inspiring how Oyetola’s governance stimulus has become a praiseworthy matter in the public space – not based on propaganda techniques, but on verifiable substance. Within emotional boundaries, being the software correlate of government-citizens relations, consistent salary payment volumes to how performance in one area trickles down to water other strata in the society.

 

Add that to the rating of the state in the recent poverty and inequality index, according to the Nigerian Living Standard Survey, and you see how the convergence of Oyetola’s intervention initiatives work.

 

Within the infrastructural development sphere, Oyetola has also covered good grounds, especially with healthcare and roads. More surprising is the fact that although these aspects sit in the hardware paradigm, the Oyetola-led administration in Osun has found a creative way of connecting them with the aspirations of the people.

 

For instance, the current revolution in the health sector which is absolutely predicated on the needs of the citizens, is part of the government’s effort to improve the quality of lives of its people. To ensure this, the Oyetola-led administration in Osun made a commitment to revitalize at least one Primary Health Centre (PHC) per ward, across the state.

 

The government identified 332 focal PHCs to benefit from this revitalization scheme, out of which 258 have been successfully delivered for the people’s benefit – both in rural and urban areas of the state.

 

Residents of Osun who carefully scan their environments will come to an appreciation of what the current administration is doing to improve health services. The 258 revitalized primary health centres are not a false impression, or “audio” revitalization, as the millennials will prefer to put it.

 

At Oja Timi, Ede North Local Government Area, a primary health centre has been revitalized there. Some other primary health centres that have been revitalized across the state include: Ijamo PHC, Otan-Ile PHC, Anwo PHC in Ilobu, Ifewara PHC, Ilaje PHC in Ilesha, Odo-olowo PHC in Osogbo, Alekuwodo PHC in Osogbo, Oro-Oruwo PHC, Araromi PHC in Boripe, Lagua PHC in Iragbiji, Oke-Ara PHC in Boripe, Oke-Ogi PHC in Order, Erikpa PHC, Isokun PHC in Ilesha, Irojo PHC in Ilesha, Sekona PHC, Kelebe PHC, Oke-Baale PHC in Osogbo Oroki, Okinni PHC in Egbedore, among several others.

 

A facility visit to some of the locations highlighted above should suffice to validate the position of the government. With respect to the welfare of health workers, Oyetola has since February 2020 approved the full implementation of Revised Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) and Consolidated Health workers’ Salary Structure (CONHESS) for all categories of health workers.

 

By this gesture, the state government under the leadership of Governor Oyetola has put an end to eight years of agitation for salary increment by medical practitioners in the state. With the implementation of the new salary structures in February 2020, the health sector has become more attractive, appealing and rewarding to professionals.

 

These are verifiable details. Unto the issue of COVID-19; it must be admitted that the novel coronavirus has undermined not only the economy and operational deliverables of Osun, but has also reduced the strength of the once-booming economies both across the nation and in the world at large.

 

However, Governor Oyetola, with the full understanding of the economic position of the state, approached the pandemic with a proactive steps. Isn’t it still startling how Oyetola ordered the lockdown of the state before the situation became unaffordably precarious?

 

Maybe, just maybe, Osun would have been absolutely conditioned by the COVID- 19 pandemic, without the various proactive measures.

 

But with the volume of work ongoing in the state, including the revitalization of primary health centres, construction of roads, social welfare services, and a number of developmental projects; even COVID-19 can’t boast of hampering healthcare services or limiting attention to existing health challenges in the state.

 

A visit to the Atelewo Model Primary Health Centre recently showed that the number of outpatients attended to on a daily basis has increased in percentage even amidst the pandemic.

Maternal and childcare demands have also witnessed a surge at the centre. That is just one example, out of several others.

Besides, the government has not reneged on procuring medical equipment and consumables for the 332 focal health facilities across the state, through the ministry of health. So much has happened in the health sector of Osun State in recent times, and the revolution is still ongoing.

However, there is a bigger picture that citizens and observers should not lose sight of: with Oyetola, all lives matter!

 

Governor Oyetola is unapologetic about his knack for ensuring the protection of the people of the state from actual or potential threats, and his recent actions and priorities show a man who continually strives to strike a balance in his deliveries to the people in the spirit of this humanist tenet.

 

So, what should we make of Raheemat Adeniran’s vociferation in the media about her December 2019 experience in State Hospital, Ede? Just to be clear: Raheemat could well have an argument to advance about her experience at the State Hospital, Ede.

 

It is not implausible that opportunities had failed her to distil the narrative since December 2019, being the underlying timeline of her experience. Resonating sympathies go to Raheemat and a host of residents who had been at the receiving end of undesirable healthcare services in the past.

 

However, one unpleasant outing does not define the state. More so as the current administration is not showing any sign of retreat in ensuring that people are protected against any form of actual or potential threat to lives.

And so, the concerns raised about the health sector cannot be wished away, especially considering the fact that the quality of lives of a people leans heavily on the strength of the healthcare services available within the territory.

 

So much has happened between December 2019 and this time, but the reengineering is changing gear as the days progress under the watch of the Oyetola-led administration in Osun. *Olonode writes from Osogbo.

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