For every child that dies in Nigeria from an entirely preventable childhood killer disease, the indictment runs deep. For every woman that dies in childbirth to send Nigeria`s shameful statistics on maternal mortality soaring into the stratosphere, fingers point spiritedly in many directions. Nigeria remains a country where many duck blame including those who are criminally blameworthy. The story is always a familiarly haunting one.
Funds budgeted and allocated for projects beneficial to the public often make a journey of no return to private pockets. Queries and inquiries into their whereabouts usually meet a dead end, extinguished by those who prefer shadows to scrutiny, and darkness to light.
Thus, those who live rural areas find themselves cut adrift from civilization by a dereliction that runs from the highest places afflicting everything and inflicting generational wounds along the way.
The Nigerian Senate recently mandated its Committees on Health, Primary Health Care and Communicable Disease, Works, and Housing to investigate the abandoned N400 billion National Primary Health Center Project initiated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo across the 774 Local Government Areas in the country.
The mandate was predicated on a resolution which itself was pursuant to a motion dubbed ‘Need to investigate the abandoned Four Hundred Billion Naira National Primary Health Center Project,’ sponsored by Mr. Yahaya Oloriegbe the senator representing Kwara Central.
According to Mr. Oloriegbe, the National Primary Health Center project was initiated by the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006.The idea was to build in each of the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria, a sixty (60) bed Primary Health Center to be complimented with a three-bedroom flat, doctors` quarters, an ambulance, all basic hospital equipment and drugs.
The Kwara lawmaker further added that, “in order to achieve this lofty project, the federal government deducted monies from the excess crude account of all 774 Local Government Areas on a monthly basis, warehoused same with the then Platinum Habib Bank (Now Keystone Bank) until the funds required for the realization of the project were realized.”
Continuing, the lawmaker hinted that despite the exhaustive professional pre-contract activities, the contract for the execution of the projects in the entire 774 Local Government Areas was awarded to Messrs Mattans Nig. Ltd without any known tendering and selection processes. According to him, Messrs Mattans Nigeria Ltd subcontracted out the jobs to consultants and subcontractors as well as released monies to them without any verification of their capacities and capabilities.
Now, by any measure, this must be considered truly alarming for it is simply not true today that in each of Nigerias 774 Local Government Areas there stands a sixty (60) bed Primary Health Center complete with a three-bedroom flat, doctors quarters, an ambulance, all basic hospital equipment and drugs. Yet, N400 billion naira was realized, forcefully taken from the excess crude account of all 774 Local Government Areas of Nigeria. Yes, forcefully taken because it is no rocket science to surmise that were all the 774 exhaustively consulted about the deductions, many of them would have balked at another white elephant project conceived to corruptly siphon their funds.
Many of the Local Government Areas would have especially laughed at the irony of such money being deducted from their accounts when they had to go through many months with so little funding for what was arguably the most crucial tier of government as Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo acting in concert with some PDP governors did his best to erode the third tier of government in Nigeria.
The story of corruption in Nigeria is a deep one which has in its incredible chapters a cast of characters that have combined to leave Nigeria in the bind it is today. While some of them are still active, getting in the faces of Nigeria thanks to some of the funds they successfully stole while in power, many of them now live in `retirement’ where they enjoy their loot and dispense patronage to those who would lick their boots.
Although the National Assembly is suspect for the suspect motives of its principal actors and players, Nigerians dearly hope that this probe is got right. There is a crimson sea of red flags, flags reddened by the fact that Nigeria has a public health emergency of some sort exacerbated by a criminal lack of accountability. With all the people, especially children, who die every day from entirely preventable diseases there is no doubt that public health security in Nigeria is very low. This probe may yet take the path others have taken but what remains true is that Nigeria is running out of time to fix so many things especially public health and accountability
It has been sixteen years since the project was contracted out and N400bn has disappeared with practically nothing to show for it. There is no doubt that another white elephant project darkens the horizons of the country. The question is how many more are out there? From all indications, Nigeria may soon be overrun by a herd of white elephants.
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