The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the engagement was organised by Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC), an NGO, in reaction to the poorly funded primary health care centres in the FCT.
Taiwo advised National Assembly members interested in community projects, especially Primary Health Care Centres, to budget N120million for a standard centres instead of N40million that hardly equipped them.
“We had Primary Health Center (PHC) summit and we decided that all PHCs in Nigeria are standardised.
“A budget for a full fledged PHC is about N120 million with facilities such as solar, water or borehole, and a staff quarters because we cannot afford to have facilities without quarters.
“So, if you want to build for your community this is the amount you should budget.
” To the community members, they hold their representatives accountable,” he said.
He said that the Federal Government cannot do it alone because of inadequate funds.
“We are trying our best as NPHCDA to ensure that in the next five to 10 years the story of PHC will change.
“Partners are coming, many are interested already, Dangote, former Managing Director Access Bank, MTN and foreign partners among others just to make the PHC in Nigeria up to standard,” he said.
Earlier, Ms Kiema Ogunlana, Programme Director, Sam Empowerment Foundation, who was one of the monitors within Gwarinpa, said the PHC there lacked some amenities.
Ogunlana said that she visited the PHC and the Junior Secondary School, both in Gwarinpa.
She said the facility, which was newly built, was short-staffed and lacked laboratory oxygen.
She also urged the government, particularly, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to bring a sensitisation programme to the community to curtail drug abuse.
Meanwhile, she decried poor infrastructure in the school, adding that the students were exposed to open defecation as a result of lack of toilet facilities.
“The school looked well managed but it had some challenges.
“The ceiling boards are bad, the number of students are more than the number of desks they have in the school, the windows and wall are cracked.
“The worst of it all is that they do not have a functional toilet. Students practice open defecation.
“The girls do not have a safe space for privacy, they either go into nearby uncompleted or abandoned buildings,” she said.
She added that the environment was almost inhabitable.
“If there is anything the government can do about this it will be fine,” she said.
Ms Margaret Lawrence, Programme Manager, PPDC, said the programme provided insights on how best to participate and take actions to improve the quality of projects delivered within the FCT communities.
“This engagement will provide insights on how best to participate and take actions to improve the quality of projects delivered within communities.
“It is to also know how we can leverage social platforms, positions, civic rights, and actions to improve service delivery within the Area councils,” she said.