On Wednesday, the Mandate Secretary, Health Services and Environment Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Adedolapo Fasawe, said new hospitals are underway in the territory to improve access to quality healthcare.
Ms Fasawe disclosed this in Abuja during a capacity development training for health managers in the FCT.
She said more than six to seven world-standard hospitals have opened in the territory, adding that additional ones would be constructed to bridge the access gap.
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“You will soon start to see new hospitals in the FCT, but we can’t build new hospitals when there is no adequate human resource,” she said.
“Our doctors are running away, but we are working on that right now.”
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She said the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike-led FCTA, is already working on improving human resources for health.
She said that with the FCT minister who does things to perfection, the amount that has gone to the health sector in 2025 was unprecedented.
“We are working on improving our health systems now beyond building new hospitals. Under his administration, we have been able to increase our health workforce by over 1000,” she said.
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“We have also increased salaries of some health workers with some receiving doubled their salaries.”
The mandate secretary said a reasonable budgetary allocation had been earmarked for human resources, adding that FCT doctors were paid uniform allowance for the first time.
“I want to assure you that this administration is not taking health lightly, and this annual operational plan will detail everything we need – how much we need, including miscellaneous.
“I know that the FCT Minister will do the right thing as he has started doing the right things towards repositioning the health sector,” she said.
Ms Fasawe noted that the country is gripped with many demands across all sectors, but there are limited resources to address these needs, particularly those of the health sector.
She, however, said she is proud of President Bola Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope Agenda”, which is already transforming the health sector.
She particularly said that road projects being executed and inaugurated in the capital city and across the area councils are significantly improving access to health facilities.
She commended all the doctors and other health workers working in FCT secondary facilities for the cordial working relationship with the FCT Administration.
“Since the Wike-led FCTA came on board, we witnessed only one warning strike, and within three days, the minister was able to resolve the issues.
“So, I want to commend the doctors who work in FCT, who, despite the difficult working conditions, have not gone on strike,” she said.
The mandate secretary, however, noted that in the area council, there was a general strike by the workers that lasted for more than three months.
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She explained that primary health care centres are under the purview of area councils, adding that although they went on strike, they still provided essential services.
“Schools were closed, other places were closed, but I can say for a fact that the last immunisation exercise, for the first time, FCT recorded 101 per cent achievement, despite the strike.
“So, we are looking forward to a situation where doctors that have gone abroad will start to come back here to practice and we are starting to see a lot of that.
“What we need to do is look after the welfare of doctors,” she noted. (NAN)
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