By Cosmas Omegoh
A governorship aspirant in the forthcoming the Anambra State governorship election, Mr. Paul Orajiaka, says he would strive to change the face of the healthcare and electricity sectors to sustain the state in the path of development.
Speaking recently, Orajiaka said his programme for the state would come under his Security, Health, Electricity, Employment, Education and Road (SHEEER) agenda, while disclosing that he had earlier unveiled security plans to secure Anambra State given the rising security challenges in the state and the nation.
Orajiaka who is a business entrepreneur and Harvard-trained scholar said his health scheme would focus on a system that gives priority to primary healthcare with incentives to medical practitioners.
He said: “After security, health will be my next focus. With my experience earlier this year when my Paul Orajiaka Foundation (POF), provided free medical services to several communities in the three senatorial zones of the state, I realised the urgent need for critical health intervention at the grassroots.
“To this end, my health priority will be approached in five folds and will permeate every nook and cranny of the state. First, we will revitalise primary health care with infrastructural upgrade so communities will have a well-equipped health facility including the General Hospitals. We would strengthen human resources for health by training and re-training all cadres of health workers and a welfare scheme to boost morale because it is only a well-motivated medical team that can give it’s all to save lives.”
He noted that he would initiate a health insurance scheme that would cover all indigenes of the state. According to him, all over the world, health insurance has become a key driver of the health sector. “I believe that with a strong partnership with the best insurance companies in the country, we can give a lifeline to our people without breaking the banks.
He spoke about initiating community ownership and participation through community volunteers to serve as interface between the community and health facilities. He gave hints that he would kickstart telemedicine to strengthen synergy among all health facilities using a hub and spoke model-linking tertiary and secondary facilities to mentor primary health centers.
Speaking about his plans to ensure a minimum of 22 hours-daily power supply to the state, Orajiaka said his focus is to ensure that businesses and households are properly powered under public-private power generation scheme.
He said: “I will certainly encourage the power company already operational in the state, but I will also create alternatives for more private investors to come in. A single approach cannot guarantee my electricity target to light-up Anambra, so I will adopt a multidimensional system that brings all the available options into play.
“I understand that a lot of market policy issues need to be resolved to facilitate investment in the power sector, to this end we will advocate for a policy change across the entire value chain so that the sector can work optimally. The outdated infrastructure across the entire value chain is not helping the power sector and our government will provide all necessary support to those operators in Anambra to address the challenge of outdated infrastructure.
“Lastly, I will champion proper policies that will encourage the market to grow and see the power sector run as a business as against the regulatory squeeze the players within the value chain face. You literally cannot regulate a market into existence as is the current practice at the moment.”
“Anambra State is a major business hob in the country and like we know, no business environment can operative competitively without adequate power supply. As an entrepreneur, I know better and will ensure that all cards are on deck to revive the once booming businesses in the state.”