Vice President Kashim Shettima has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic reforms are designed to deliver lasting improvements in Nigerians’ living conditions stressing that the ultimate measure of good governance lies in the institutions built and opportunities created for future generations.
He said the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda places human capital development quality healthcare education and sustainable economic productivity at the centre of its reform programme aiming to ensure that the benefits of government policies outlive the tenure of political officeholders.
Shettima spoke on Friday in Maiduguri Borno State where he inaugurated the ultra-modern Kashim Ibrahim University Teaching Hospital (KIUTH) and two schools built by Governor Babagana Umara Zulum’s administration.
The Vice President maintained that political leaders would ultimately be remembered not for the privileges and trappings of their offices but for the tangible improvements they brought to the lives of citizens.
‘Someday and that day is nearer than we imagine we shall be judged by what survives our time in office. The offices we held the aides who surrounded us and the length of our convoys will have surrendered their importance.
‘What will endure are the institutions we built the roads we constructed and the lives made better because we served’ he declared.
Shettima described investments in healthcare and education as indispensable to Nigeria’s economic development particularly in communities recovering from prolonged insecurity and displacement.
He commended Governor Zulum for sustaining investments in critical social infrastructure despite the security challenges confronting Borno State saying the newly inaugurated facilities demonstrated how government resources could be deployed to improve people’s lives.
According to a statement issued by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications Office of the Vice President Stanley Nkwocha Shettima said the teaching hospital will significantly strengthen access to specialised medical services reduce the financial and emotional burden on families compelled to seek treatment outside the state and expand opportunities for medical training and research.
‘For a family already burdened by illness the cost and anxiety of travelling outside the state can compound their suffering. This hospital offers the prospect of expert attention nearer home’ he said.
The Vice President emphasised that rebuilding educational institutions in communities devastated by insurgency was as important as restoring confidence rebuilding livelihoods and securing the future of young people.
He observed that beyond providing learning opportunities functional schools represented a return to normalcy and renewed confidence in the future of communities emerging from conflict.
‘In a state whose communities have endured the disruption of insurgency a classroom carries a particular significance. It restores the expectation that tomorrow can be planned for’ Shettima stated.
Drawing on his experience as former governor of Borno State the Vice President acknowledged the difficulties of delivering development projects in an environment threatened by insurgency.
He praised Zulum’s determination to sustain investments in healthcare education and other essential public services despite the enormous demands of rebuilding the state.
‘To improve lives and livelihoods in a state that has withstood such a climate of insecurity demands uncommon fortitude. I know the weight of that responsibility. As the street language goes I have been there and done that’ he said.
Shettima conveyed President Tinubu’s felicitations to the government and people of Borno State and reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to supporting the state’s reconstruction peacebuilding and human capital development programmes.
He explained that the administration’s emphasis on healthcare and education stems from the conviction that a healthy educated population is the foundation of sustainable economic growth.
‘Our investment in human capital proceeds from the conviction that a healthier better educated population can produce more earn more and contribute more. The Federal Government will continue to support Borno’s efforts to consolidate peace rebuild communities and expand opportunities for its people’ he assured.
The Vice President said Borno’s reconstruction experience offered important lessons for other communities recovering from violent conflicts particularly the need to restore essential public institutions alongside physical infrastructure.
He commended healthcare professionals educators contractors development partners and security personnel whose contributions helped complete the projects.
Shettima however cautioned that the real success of the newly commissioned facilities would depend on their capacity to consistently deliver quality services rather than the sophistication of their physical structures.
‘The responsibility now is to keep these institutions worthy of that faith. Their value will be measured in the care patients receive and the education children acquire’ he stressed.
Earlier Governor Zulum described the teaching hospital as one of the most significant manifestations of his administration’s commitment to providing modern and accessible healthcare services for the people of Borno State.
He explained that the facility was conceived not merely as a medical institution but as a centre for specialised healthcare delivery teaching and research that would serve millions of people across the Northeast.
The governor said the hospital would serve as the principal clinical training facility for Kashim Ibrahim University’s College of Health Sciences providing practical medical education and professional development opportunities for students and healthcare practitioners.
He said the institution will train medical students resident doctors nurses midwives pharmacists medical laboratory scientists physiotherapists and other healthcare professionals.
Zulum assured that his administration would sustain the investments required to keep the teaching hospital operating effectively including recruiting personnel procuring equipment and providing necessary infrastructure.
‘We have recruited and we will continue to recruit qualified healthcare professionals. We will provide equipment utility infrastructure and an enabling environment for the hospital to function at the highest standard’ he pledged.
Also speaking the Pro-Chancellor of Kashim Ibrahim University Alhaji Mohammed Indimi described the inauguration of the teaching hospital as a major milestone in the collective efforts to strengthen medical education research professional training and healthcare delivery in Borno State.
He expressed optimism that the facility would substantially improve access to quality medical services and contribute to the well-being of residents across the Northeast.
Similarly the Chairman of the Governing Board of the teaching hospital Professor Ahmed Ahidjo described the project as an unprecedented landmark in the state’s healthcare development.
Ahidjo commended Shettima for choosing Zulum as his successor and praised the governor’s decision to establish and equip the institution with modern medical facilities.
The hospital’s Chief Medical Director Professor Ibrahim Musa Kida said the institution’s long-term success would depend on the competence professionalism and dedication of its medical personnel rather than on the quality of its buildings and equipment alone.
He also acknowledged Shettima’s contributions to Borno’s development particularly his continuing involvement in efforts to consolidate peace and promote socioeconomic recovery.
In her remarks the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria Professor Fatima Kyari assured that the council would facilitate the accreditation of relevant medical science courses at the institution.