Insecurity: FEC approves airstrip in Benue

Okays upgrade of snake-bite centre in Gombe, purchase of 10 blood clinic vans

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

ABUJA — The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Tuesday approved the construction of an airstrip in Gboko, Benue State, to help security agencies confront security challenges in the state and the Middle Belt.

The council also approved upgrading the snake-bite treatment centre in Gombe State to the National Snake Bite Research and Medical Centre, with an expanded mandate for clinical services, research and training.

These approvals, among others, were granted at the cabinet meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace, Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, disclosed that the airstrip in Gboko would serve as a base to tackle bandits and terrorists operating in the state and beyond.

“For us in aviation, we just had one memo. We sought council’s approval for the construction and development of the Gboko airstrip in Benue State, and it was graciously approved by council,” he said.

He said the contract was awarded to CCECC Nigeria Limited at the cost of ₦34,398,211,538.64.

He explained that the importance of the airstrip is that Gboko serves as an important hub for agricultural activities around the Middle Belt and, in particular, for security agencies that have had to search for airstrips and bases to confront the challenges around that axis.

“It will also be a base for humanitarian activities and services and emergency medical services. That is how important that area is, and we thought it was important to put an airstrip there to confront and address these challenges we are facing around the axis.”

Also briefing, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, said that FEC considered four important items related to the health of Nigerians and approved them.

He said: “First was the upgrade of the snake-bite treatment centre in Kaltungo, Gombe State, into the National Snake Bite Research and Medical Centre in Kaltungo, Gombe State, with an expanded mandate for clinical services, research and training to respond to the need that exists in our country for adequate attention to snake bites.

“Snake bite remains a significant yet neglected public health challenge, particularly in our rural communities here in Nigeria, in the savannah regions, but also across the subregion. It is especially hard on vulnerable populations — farmers, herders, hunters, women and children — whose livelihoods and daily activities expose them to encounters with snakes.

“We do have a large burden: over 43,000 snake bites annually occur, many of which result in death, disfigurement, disability and psychological trauma, with severe socioeconomic consequences.

“This new centre will be an important institution that will address the challenge, particularly in the Northeast, Northwest and North Central geopolitical zones of Nigeria, where the issue is most dire.

“The new centre will provide comprehensive, specialised care for snakebite and related envenomings, undertake research on snakebite epidemiology, prevention, diagnosis and treatment, ensure sustainable access to quality antivenom, and have full clinical and medical departments to improve patient care and specialist services, among other things.

It will also partner with international institutions. This is a major step that brings an institution that will be the first of its kind in this country and in our subregion.”

The minister further stated that the second memo he presented, which was also approved, was the procurement of 10 units of compressed natural gas‑powered blood-donation medical clinic vans for National Blood Service zonal activities.

He said the vans are essentially to facilitate the procurement, collection and distribution of blood in each geopolitical zone.

“Approximately, we require 1.8 million units of blood donations annually. At the current rate, we only get about 25 to 30%. These blood-donation vehicles can be deployed to mobilise donors so that we enhance the collection of blood that is critical for pregnant women who may require caesarean sections, for trauma victims, for surgery patients, or for those being treated for cancers who require repeated transfusions or other blood components. It is part of the effort to build the infrastructure comprehensively for emergency medical services dealing with maternal health, and these 10 blood-donation vehicles will be procured at the cost of about ₦6.9 billion.”

“The third approval was for the procurement of tuberculosis commodities by the Ministry of Health, at the sum of ₦62 billion. The reason is because Nigeria is among the countries that run among the highest burdens of tuberculosis.

“Tuberculosis is a socially determined disease linked to poverty, malnutrition, comorbidities and poor housing, and we have one of the largest borders,” he said.

He added that Nigeria is among the top countries able to detect those cases, pointing out that until now, most treatment for tuberculosis depended on external actors.

“Now the Nigerian government is stepping in to procure those commodities and put us on a path to manufacture them locally. We don’t manufacture them at the moment, so the federal government’s procurement effort will ultimately lead to local manufacture of anti-tuberculosis drugs.”

Prof. Pate said the final approval was for the procurement of reproductive health drugs and commodities in the sum of ₦25 billion through the Primary Health Care Development Agency.

The aim is to provide family-planning and maternal-health commodities for those who choose to use them for birth spacing, essentially allowing women to exercise their choice if they so wish.

He said these commodities will be distributed through primary health-care centres across the country.