Nigerian Newsday

By Abubakar Labaran, Kafanchan

The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Nenadi E. Usman, has made a giant stride to upgrade the Kafanchan General Hospital and College of Nursing, Kafanchan, Kaduna State, by donating equipment worth N5.5 million to the two institutions.

The equipment donated included X-ray machine, oxygen cylinders, hospital beds, dental chairs, surgical equipment and a lot of other sophisticated gadgets.

Presenting the equipment in Kafanchan last week, Mrs. Nenadi explained that the effort was a step towards ensuring good healthcare delivery to the needy.

Represented by her special assistant, Mr. Edward Masha, the minister stressed that healthcare delivery was not the responsibility of the government alone but also that of the well-to-do people in the society.

She called on the managements of the bodies to handle the equipment well and take good care of them.

Receiving the equipment on behalf of the hospital management, the Medical Director of Kafanchan General Hospital, Dr. Everton Yari, thanked the minister for her kind gesture, adding that with the equipment the hospital was now in a better position to face some challenges without much difficulties.

He said for instance that with the X-ray machine now available, patients would no longer have to go to Jos for the purpose.

The medical director added that the gesture was timely due to the fact that Kafanchan General Hospital was designated as a world centre in HIV/AIDS management.

In his speech, the provost of Kaduna State College of Nursing, Kafanchan, Mr. Victor Mugu, explained that with the availability of these equipment, the college students would now conduct their researches with ease. He promised that the equipment would go a long way in improving the practical aspects of the students education.

Speaking on behalf of the family of the minister, her elder brother, Mr. Cynus Akapson thanked the minister for "doing it again", saying it was not the first time the minister was making such donation to the community. He thanked her for doing the family in particular and the area in general proud.

Mr. Akapson further called on the minister not to relent in rendering assistance to the needy, pointing that "the poor are the ones that constitute majority in the society".