Zulum Targets End to Medical Tourism as Shettima Commissions 400-Bed Teaching Hospital

By: Michael Mike

Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, has intensified efforts to curb medical tourism with the establishment of a 400-bed teaching hospital equipped with advanced diagnostic technology and specialist healthcare facilities in Maiduguri.

Vice-President Kashim Shettima on Friday commissioned the Kashim Ibrahim University Teaching Hospital alongside other key projects delivered by the Zulum administration, in a move aimed at expanding access to quality healthcare and strengthening medical training in the North-east.

The hospital, which combines specialist medical services with the training of healthcare professionals, is expected to reduce the need for patients in Borno and neighbouring communities to travel elsewhere for advanced diagnosis and treatment.

Equipped with a 1.5-tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, a 160-slice computed tomography (CT) scanner, three conventional and two mobile X-ray machines, three 4D ultrasound machines, a fluoroscopy system and digital mammography equipment, the facility is designed to expand access to specialised medical services.

Its infrastructure also includes 13 specialist departments covering diagnostic, medical, surgical, emergency, paediatric, internal medicine and physiotherapy services, among others.

The project comprises a medical college complex, a students’ hostel, a 200-unit staff estate and an oxygen plant complex, providing supporting infrastructure for patient care, medical education and healthcare delivery.

Beyond reducing the burden of seeking treatment outside the state, the hospital is expected to serve residents of neighbouring communities and people across the Lake Chad region, while improving access to specialist care for underserved populations.

It is also expected to strengthen healthcare manpower development by providing training opportunities for doctors, nurses and allied health professionals, helping to address shortages that have constrained healthcare delivery in Borno and the wider North-east.

Speaking at the commissioning, Shettima commended Zulum for investing in institutions capable of delivering lasting benefits to the state, particularly in healthcare and education.

He said the value of public office should ultimately be measured by the institutions established, infrastructure delivered and lives improved, rather than the privileges associated with political positions.

“We shall be judged by what survives our time in office, the offices we held, the aides who surrounded us, and the length of our convoys will have surrendered their importance. What will endure are the institutions we built, the roads we built and the lives we improved through service. That is the meaning of our gathering here in Maiduguri. That is why this occasion brings me such joy,” the Vice-President said.

Shettima said the hospital and the schools established by the state government reflected Zulum’s commitment to rebuilding Borno through investments that directly affect people’s lives.

“According to Carl Sagan’s law of insignificance, 100 years from now, everyone you know or who knows you will be out of this world. This is why I do not doubt the vision of His Excellency Professor Babagana Umara Zulum; his passion for healthcare and education is expressed in the institution before us,” he said.

He added that the teaching hospital and schools being established across Maiduguri and other parts of the state demonstrated the governor’s conviction that recovery must translate into tangible improvements in healthcare and access to education.

“The ultra-modern Kashim Ibrahim University Teaching Hospital and the school that dotted our landscape in Maiduguri and across the state give substance to his belief that Borno recovery must reach the patient awaiting treatment and the child sitting in a place in the classroom,” Shettima said.

In the education sector, the Vice-President also commissioned Yerwa Practice Mega Primary School, built by the Zulum administration, and another mega primary school delivered under the Kashim Shettima Free Education Programme.

The programme, regarded as one of the Vice-President’s key education initiatives, provides free education for orphans and vulnerable children.

The projects underscore the Borno government’s strategy of linking post-conflict recovery with investments in essential public services, particularly healthcare and education.

For a state grappling with the long-term effects of insurgency, expanding access to specialist medical services and strengthening the institutions responsible for training health workers remain critical to improving living conditions and rebuilding public infrastructure.

The new teaching hospital is expected to provide a major boost to those efforts by bringing advanced diagnostic services, specialist treatment and medical training together in one institution.

Zulum Targets End to Medical Tourism as Shettima Commissions 400-Bed Teaching Hospital

Ajakuta: Borno loses infrastructure worth billions to scavengers, Zulum says

By: Our Reporter

Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, has revealed that the state has lost metals, electrical materials and infrastructure worth billions of naira to scavengers, locally known as Ajakuta.

He said this, among other security concerns, led to a ban on the scrap metal trade in Borno State.

The Governor disclosed this on Saturday while addressing operators, urging them to submit proposals on how they can continue their businesses without contributing to insecurity or destroying public infrastructure.

Zulum explained that the ban was imposed in the overall interest of the state and not to deprive operators of their livelihood.

He stressed that the government had no personal interest in stopping their businesses, adding that the measure aimed to protect public assets and strengthen security.

Governor Zulum said, “It is deeply concerning to me if one person loses his livelihood for whatever reason in Borno; believe me, there is nothing I stand to gain from banning scrap metal trade rather than addressing the serious security concerns associated with your activities.”

“We spent more than N3 billion to connect an electricity distribution line from Damaturu to Maiduguri, but unfortunately we lost all the wires to the metal scavenging activities. Before the ban, hundreds of your members were killed in the process of scavenging for metals in the villages that are not yet safe for civilian activities.”

“We have security intelligence that even the insurgents use your platforms to sell looted metals. So, no responsible government will ignore such intelligence just to be politically correct.”

He further granted a waiver allowing the operators to evacuate stock accumulated before the ban at selected locations, a move intended to ease the impact of the restriction on genuine businesses.

Ajakuta: Borno loses infrastructure worth billions to scavengers, Zulum says

NHRC builds capacity of Gombe MDAs on human rights protection

By Elizabeth Ogunjobi

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), in collaboration with Viva Atlantic Limited, has organised a two-day workshop for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in Gombe State to strengthen human rights protection.

Dr Tony Ojukwu, Executive Secretary of NHRC, said at the event in Gombe on Thursday that the training aimed to enlighten MDA officials on their roles in promoting human rights effectively.

The theme of the training was: “Implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Nigeria 2024-2028,” focusing on institutional responsibility across government agencies.

Ojukwu, represented by Dr Joseph Wanshe, the Gombe State coordinator, said participation by MDAs remained key to the successful implementation of the NAP and promotion of human rights across government.

He described the NAP as a national framework whose implementation should not be reserved for NHRC, but should be a collective responsibility involving all relevant stakeholders across government and society.

He said the training was also designed to ensure that a human rights-based approach became part of government planning, policy formulation, budgeting, regulation, programme implementation, service delivery, monitoring and evaluation processes.

“The 2024-2028 NAP provides us with the opportunity to move from commitment to implementation, from policies to measurable results, from the institutional responsibility to institutional accountability.

“Your participation is significant because the successful implementation of this NAP depends to a very large extent on the ownership and commitment of MDAs in government.

“The question before us is no longer simply whether we support human rights. The question is what each MDA is doing to advance and protect human rights within its mandate.

“The success of the NAP must be measured by the difference that Nigerians experience in their everyday lives.

“Behind every policy, behind every person, behind every government programme is a citizen whose rights may be affected by the decision that we make.

“Our collective responsibility, therefore, is to ensure that Nigerians within our jurisdiction as MDAs can enjoy their rights without discrimination and with effective access to justice and remedies,” he said.

Ojukwu urged participants to remain committed to NAP implementation, so that “we can transform the NAP from a policy document into a living instrument of governance for the promotion and protection of human rights in Nigeria.”

Some participants who spoke to newsmen pledged commitment to mainstreaming human rights into their institutional processes and working with the commission to entrench a culture of human rights in the state.

Mrs Rebecca Bature, Manager, News, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Gombe, and Mr Daniel Salihu, Assistant Director and Head of Civic Values and Democracy Education, National Orientation Agency, commended NHRC for training.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 35 officials drawn from different MDAs in Gombe State participated in the two-day training on human rights and NAP implementation.

NHRC builds capacity of Gombe MDAs on human rights protection