The Governor of Jigawa State Umar Namadi, on Monday caught health workers selling drugs that are meant to be given to children under five for free, a crime said to contravened the state government’s policy on free healthcare for children under five and lactating mothers.
Penpushing reports that a statement by the Governor’s spokesperson,Hamisu Gumel said Namadi caught the workers when he paid a surprise visit to the General Hospital, Dutse, the state capital, describing the action of the health workers as sabotage.
“The governor was particularly worried to find out that patients—even under-fives—were being sold drugs in the hospital in contravention of the State Government’s policy of free healthcare to under-five-year-old children in the state’, Gumel said.
“70 per cent of the children caregivers and lactating mothers interviewed by the Governor (during the unscheduled visit) said they bought drugs and were not given bedsheets. He frowned at the lackadaisical attitude of the hospital’s management, saying, “This is tantamount to sabotage which the perpetrators will not go unpunished’, he added.
“The Governor was not happy with the deplorable condition of the hospital. In some sections, there was no light as both staff and patients were sitting in the dark, and in some patient wards, there were no window nets to prevent mosquitoes,” he added.
Penpushing further reports that the Governor’s visit was a continuation of his unscheduled visits to state institutions, while it is recalled that on 19 June, he paid an unscheduled visit to the state’s secretariat complex in Dutse, where he discovered only a few workers and senior officials turned up for work.
The Governor during the visit, met only six senior officers in their offices, and of the 22 serving permanent secretaries, only three were in their offices attending to files when the governor visited the secretariat.
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