Co-Founder of the ONE Campaign, lead-singer of the Irish multi-award
winning rock-band, and philanthropist, Mr. Paul David Hewson, also known
as Bono (U2), on Tuesday, thanked the 8th National Assembly for including
a clause in the 2018 budget that guarantees the use of 1% of the
Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation for primary healthcare.
In a statement signed by Olu Onemola, the special assistant on New Media
to the President of the Senate, Bono gave the commendation when he paid a
courtesy visit to the President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki,
in Abuja.
He stated that he was in the National Assembly to commend the legislators
for being the first National Assembly in the history of Nigeria to get the
1% clause passed.
“You made it happen,” Bono said to the President of the Senate, “People
were, and have been talking about it for many years, but nobody was doing
anything about it.
“But you made the 1% for healthcare happen. Nobody wants earmarks, but you
made it happen. Its going to be really important for people’s lives. The
decisions made in this building are decisions of life and death in this
case, so, we thank you for making the decision for people that we may
never even meet.”
Responding, Saraki, who received the visitors in the company of Senate
Minority Leader, Senator Biodun Olujimi and Senator Dino Melaye, stated
that he had his colleagues from both the Senate and the House of
Representatives to thank for the passage of the 1% appropriation for
healthcare in the 2018 budget.
Saraki also told his visitors that as a medical doctor, he saw the
improvement of primary healthcare across Nigeria as a necessity and hoped
that moving forward, the efficient implementation of the 1% for Primary
Healthcare would be addressed.
The President of the Senate said: “The issue now is to get the 1%
allocation out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) operational, so that
we can begin to improve our primary healthcare system across the country.
“What we need to consider now is to see how that fund can be seed capital
for the private sector to come in and expand the system. Depending on
government to build these healthcare centres and make them functional on a
long-term basis is not going to work.
“I have had the opportunity to be a Governor for eight years, where I
pushed the health insurance scheme in partnership with the private sector,
so I have seen it work.
“Let the private sector be responsible for sustaining this because they
can do it better than government. Let’s say the 1% out of the CRF adds up
to a N1 trillion for example, government should make that their
contribution, then, we should get the private sector to come in, make
their own contributions and manage it.
“Otherwise, we will find out that every year, we will have the same
budgetary provisions for this 1% Clause for Healthcare and that we have
not moved forward in improving our primary healthcare system,” he stated.
The U2 lead singer was accompanied on the visit by Gayle Smith, the
president and CEO of the ONE Campaign; Tom Freston, chairman of the ONE
Campaign; Kathy McKeirnan, director of Communications; Innocent Edache,
Communications and Advocacy Manager of the ONE Campaign; Douglas
Alexander, chairman of the Board of UNICEF UK; John Spears, chief of staff
to the President of the ONE Campaign; and Serah Makka, the Nigeria Country
Director for the ONE Campaign.