A former Governor of Ondo state, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, has tasked Nigerians to hold political leaders to account, describing it as a major way to ensure an egalitarian society.
He stated this during the week, while delivering a lecture to a group of participants at a short course on maternal and child health in resettlement, organised by the Social Standards Node of the World Bank Centre of Excellence in Reproductive Health at the University of Benin (SPESSE-UNIBEN), Benin, Edo State.
The lecture was titled: “Leveraging Political Commitment for Safe Motherhood in Nigeria: the Example of Ondo State.”
While itemizing infant and maternal heath performance, urban and rural development, qualitative education of the masses, and security as key areas through which performance of governments could be assessed, the former Ondo governor charged the people not to be contented with brick and mortar alone.
He noted that the award-winning Abiye Safe Motherhood programme of his administration came into being, as a result of the embarrassingly high maternal mortality rate before he assumed office.
Mimiko said: “It gives me joy to see that pregnant women, who had no access to quality healthcare, enjoyed top rated and free health services under our administration in Ondo State.
We would not have achieved this, without political will. I charge political leaders and players to make healthcare a priority, as we go into elections in 2023.” The ex-governor also stated that his then caring-heart administration was to take the poor in the society out of poverty, which, according to him, was achieved.
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
