TheCable

The Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (AGPMPN) says it will honour former President Goodluck Jonathan and some Nigerians who have contributed to the development of Nigeria’s health sector. 

The association said the honour is part of the programme to mark its centenary anniversary on August 12, in Abuja.

Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti state; Nwankwo Kanu, Super Eagles legend; Olusegun Mimiko, ex-governor of Ondo state, and Maryam Abacha, former first lady, are among those to be honoured.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Iyke Odo, the association’s national president, said the event will “unveil an array of Nigerians who have etched their names in gold through their worthy interventions in the health sector”.

“The award programme will be preceded by a national dialogue on healthcare delivery in Nigeria to be chaired by a former senate president, senator Ken Nnamani, same day,” the statement reads.

“Among the proposed awardees are former President Goodluck Jonathan, for his servant-leadership roles in the fight against Ebola, under his watch as President and Nigeria’s football icon, Kanu Nwankwo, got a nomination in another category for his selflessness and laudable work with the Kanu Heart Foundation, through which a lot of indigent children with heart conditions received free surgeries and other medical interventions.”

Odo said the event is organised to proffer “part of the solution to Nigeria’s myriad of problems in healthcare delivery” because the healthcare system is in dire straits.

“From the poor healthcare infrastructure to inadequate or total lack of critical equipment; the uninspiring conditions of work of the medical practitioners and other health workers, Nigeria’s health sector continues to gasp for breathe,” he said.

The association’s president said ‘Save One Million Nigerian Mothers Initiative’, a private healthcare intervention fund, will be launched to support Nigerians.

Odo said Dora Akunyili, former director-general of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Stella Adadevoh, Olikoya Ransom Kuti are among those who will receive posthumous awards for their sterling contributions to Nigeria’s healthcare progress.

Odo added that others listed as awardees include “people in the political, corporate business and non-governmental organisation communities, for the great impacts they have made overtime in the health sector”.