Minister of Defence, Maj Gen Bashir Salihi Magashi inspecting medical facilities at The Armed Forces Specialist Hospital in Kano
By HARUNA AHMED, Kano –
The Minister of Defence, Maj Gen Bashir Salihi Magashi (rtd) has demonstrated the commitment of the Defence Ministry towards the provision of globally acceptable standard medical infrastructure and health care delivery to the serving and retired Armed Forces Officers and personnel.
A prove of the General Magashi’s commitment to the avowed health care delivery agenda under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration undoubtedly manifested when he paid an unscheduled visit to the Armed Forces Specialist hospital, Kano to the surprise and admiration of the management.
The retired Infantry General who took time off his extremely tight schedules at the just concluded NAF 58th anniversary celebrations in Kano to visit the hospital said the purpose of the visit was to inspect the state of the medical facilities in the hospital.
He said it was also aimed at gathering first hand information and to have on-the-spot assessment of the current status of the hospital with a view to identifying areas requiring immediate, short and long time planning to strategically re- reposition it.
The Defence Minister, who was received, briefed and conducted round the hospital by its Commander, Colonel Daniel Chukwunonye Ukwu seized the opportunity of the Minister’s visit to put on record some of the changes and challenges in the staffing, funding, operations and administration under his watch.
The Minister who was escorted on the visit by his Special Adviser Technical, Major General Ahmed Tijani Jibrin (rtd) and Special Assistant, Special Duty, Ibrahim Jubril Wudil had quality one- on-one interactive moments with some patients in the male and female wards.
He also inspected the theatre and other critical infrastructure in the hospital.
While on tour of inspection, General Magashi (rtd) administratively diagnosed and digested with utmost interest, the staffing requirement and took cognizance of the functionalities of the equipment in relation to their necessity, modernity and operability.
At the end of the inspection of the equipment that lasted for more than an hour, General Magashi identified tripodal options as workable solutions to optimize their functionalities for the benefit of the patients.
The three actionable templates going forward according to the Minister were the categorisation of working tools to be listed under the ones to either be repaired, replaced or upgraded within a clearly defined timeline and budget provision.
These critical areas of essentials requiring speedy implementation to change the narrative in the hospital were carefully noted for intervention by the Defence Minister.
