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• We’re focused on building sustainable healthcare system –Obaseki
Following the visit of 11 executive directors of the World Bank to Edo State, to inspect major bank’s projects in the state, Country Director of the Bretton Woods Institution, Rachid Benmassoud, will arrive the state on a two-day follow-up visit, this week.
He will be accompanied by senior specialists in various sectors, such as institutional reforms, public works, gender, agriculture, water and sanitation.
Benmassoud’s visit is predicated on Edo State government’s impressive deployment of funding, technical and other assistance of the World Bank, which were attested to, less than two weeks ago, by 10 executive directors of the bank, who were in the state for on-the-spot assessment of the bank-sponsored developmental projects in the state.
Specifically, the bank’s country director will meet with heads of ministries, departments and agencies of the state government, to clear the way and prepare the state for a special funding window from the bank to the state.
Governor Godwin Obaseki said: “The visit of the World Bank’s country director lends credence to our commitment to bringing development to our people in the state, with the support of our partners.”
He said Edo state, under his watch, places high premium on the sanctity and integrity of partnerships and contracts, as well as an open and transparent process.
“Development partners like the World Bank, operate in an environment where stakeholders abide by rules governing the partnerships, and in which input, output and outcomes are measured from time to time. The World Bank will not take you seriously if all you do is to award ‘political contracts,’” he added.
World Bank Executive Director, Ms. Bongi Kunene, who oversees Angola, Nigeria and South Africa sub-group, gave the verdict in Benin, and assured that the World Bank is willing to “partner the state on future projects, as long as the projects are in line with the bank’s focus.”
Regardless, Obaseki has said the state government is determined to build a sustainable healthcare system that will prioritise the revamp of primary healthcare institutions for optimum service delivery.
He said this when he received the management team of 4 Breath 4 Life, Canada, who were on a courtesy visit to the Government House in Benin.
He said the government is focused on fixing the healthcare system to ensure structures are in place to sustain the reforms.
Earlier, Executive Director of 4 Breath 4 Life, Dr. Olumide Oyefeso, commended the effort of the governor in revamping the healthcare system in the state.
He said the group is in the state to seek areas of collaboration with the government to address maternal and infant mortality, explaining that Nigeria has one of the worst mortality rates in the world with more than 700 babies dying daily.
