The Federal Government through the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, OSSAP-SDGs, delivered 100 and 80-beds Mother and Child Care hospitals a Skill Acquisition Centre and a Transit Home for abused women in Osun State.
The 100-Bed built in Osogbo, the state capital, is one of the over 25 such advanced medical facilities established across the country by OSSAP-SDGs.
It was equipped with state-or-the-art facilities which include operating theatres, recovery rooms, private and general wards, a scanning room, consultation rooms and laboratory, an ultra-scan machine, a vacuum extractor delivery set and an Emergency Cart with full compliments, which was commissioned by the Osun state governor, Adegboyega Oyetola.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony attended by top government functionaries, traditional rulers and other stakeholders in Osogbo, Governor Oyetola expressed appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, OSSAP-SDGs for the projects.
The Governor also lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for considering Osun as one of the beneficiary states of the projects.
He also reiterated the commitment of his government to the achievement of SDGs and continuous improvement in the human development index of the state.
Also speaking at the event, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals Her Excellency, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire noted that the hospital projects are strategic interventions directly linked to the achievement of SDG-3 on ‘Quality Health and Well-being for all’ as well as other cross-cutting SDGs.
She said the execution of the projects was in fulfilment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s promises to provide quality healthcare for Nigerians, particularly women and children.
Princess Orelope-Adefulire added that interventions like the Mother and Child Centres are also necessary to stop the primary and secondary effects of the COVID-19 pandemic from reversing decades of human development gained through the SDGs.
The 80-Bed Multipurpose Hospital is fully equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, including an Intensive Care Unit, Operating Theatre, Laboratory, Blood Bank and Consultation Rooms, Emergency Ward as well as Male and Female Wards among other facilities.
As Princess Orelope-Adefulire noted, with its commissioning, the 80 Bed Hospital also joined other such facilities already delivered by the OSSAP – SDGs that are being put to good use to save lives across the country.
Also commissioned were the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurial Centre and a Transit Home for Abused Women and Girls in Osun State.
Designed as a strategic tool for economic empowerment, the Skill Acquisition Centre can impart life-skills training for young men and women in the areas of Sewing, Fashion & Dressmaking Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Photography, Hairstyling & Cosmetology, Barbing, Catering, Tiling & Interlocking, Automobile, Aluminium, Plumbing, Fabrication & Welding.
The Centre, which is part of numerous centres delivered across the country by OSSAP-SDGs, is also equipped to deliver short-term training on bead making, soap making, makeup artistry, event planning, painting, drawing, weaving, and shoemaking.
On the other hand, the Transit Home for victims of Domestic Violence and Abuse was designed to serve as a haven for women and girls as well as to help the state ensure that victims of gender abuse get justice and succour.
It is equipped to impart lifelong skills which women and girls who have suffered violence can use to empower themselves economically.
It includes an administrative block, a crèche, a 250-seater conference hall, 200 rooms self-contained apartment and a skills acquisition facility for training in hairdressing, tailoring, and photography among others.
Princess Orelope-Adefulire said the two projects are another demonstration of the commitment of the Buhari administration to prioritizing key interventions with multiplier effects on multi-dimensional poverty in Nigeria.
She added that all the projects were in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s promise to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.
According to her, to achieve the cardinal objectives of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, which are to improve the economy, secure the country and stamp out corruption in society, the youths must be encouraged to use their hands to work for a living and to shun crime as a crimcrime-freeiety is the one that its youths are productively engaged.
She added that there is empirical evidence to prove that investing in youths will lead to poverty eradication, which in turn leads to social security, thereby achieving SDGs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 16, and 17 respectively.
Princess Orelope-Adefulire noted that the Transit Home which was established to support women who have suffered abuse and violence to stand on their feet economically will aid the achievements of goals 3, 5, 10, 16 and 17 of the SDGs.
Princess Orelope-Adefulire also appreciated Governor Oyetola for his commitment and ongoing support for the implementation of the SDGs in the state and urged beneficiaries of such interventions to take advantage of them to achieve the intended purposes.
