Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
Edo Civil Society Organization (EDOCSO), yesterday, gave the Edo State government three-day ultimatum to reverse the privatisation of the Edo Specialist Hospital or face the wrath of the masses. The group, in a protest march, made an on-the-spot-assessment to the facilities at the Central Hospital, sang songs of displeasures and carried banner with the inscription, “Edo people reject the privatisation of our Specialist Hospital and access to healthcare is a right not a privilege”.
Addressing newsmen after the protest march, Coordinator General of the group, Omobude Agho said they have decided to come out to protest the handing over of the hospital built with the taxpayers’ money to private individual to the detriment of the citizens of the state. “Today, we are here clearly to make a statement to Edo State Government that Edo people have rejected the privatisation of our state central or specialist hospital. We see that our taxpayers money was used to build this new edifice you called the five-star hotel, which we expect would have been open for the benefit of the Edo people.
“Recently, we heard it has been given to a private construction, so we decided to come here today and take it. It indeed belongs to us and it must be for the people. We have met part of the management of that place and they have confirmed that this five-star hospital which nomenclature has been changed from Edo State Specialist Hospital to Edo Specialists Hospital, which is a different entity from the Edo State Specialist Hospital. So in one compound, there are two entities; one is Edo State Specialist Hospital where they still take card at the rate of N100 and Edo Specialist Hospital, where they take card for N5, 000. And in this place, we are aware that one Doctor Moye they brought from Lagos is the one that entered an MOU with the Ministry of Health on this privatisation.”
Reacting to the protest by the civil society group, the Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, flayed the protests over the ownership of the hospital, noting that the hospital remains an asset of the state. According to him, “We want to state categorically that the Edo Specialist Hospital is 100 percent owned by the state government. No equity of the hospital has been transferred to any individual or group. The hospital is also wholly managed by the Edo State Hospital Management Board and supervised by the Edo State Ministry of Health.”
He noted that the state government was concluding work on the Edo State Health Insurance Scheme, which will enhance access to effective healthcare in the state. “The Edo State Health Insurance Scheme will be available to everyone, including petty traders, vulcanisers, technicians and civil servants. It will ensure a pool of funds is available to finance healthcare with regular contribution to the scheme,” he added.