Osun Govt Counters Report On Shutdown Of Health Centres
- Says TV Report Misleading
The Osun State Government has refuted claims that health centres in the state have been shutdown.
In a statement made available to OSUN DEFENDER on Sunday, Special Adviser to Governor Ademola Adeleke on Public Health, Dr. Akindele Adekunle, the government described the report aired on a television station as untrue.
According to Akindele, the ongoing strike by members of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in Osun State over the protracted local government crisis in the state did not halt the functionality of health centres.
Findings by OSUN DEFENDER revealed that the medium had reported a statement credited to the state coordinator of a new factional NULGE group, Adedayo Adekunle, while addressing journalists in Osogbo on Saturday, which claimed that health centres in the state have been shut since the strike commenced on February 17.
Adekunle had said, “No life was lost during the elections. No person was arrested and social parties were held during the day and nights to celebrate the success. Yet, all Maternity Centers were locked against women and children and they were and are still sentenced to death by the reckless shut down of the Local Government Service in Osun State by this desperate politician in the garb of a unionist.”
Akindele in his reaction said, “My attention has been drawn to an outright false reportage on the operational status of health centres in Osun state, which was aired on TVC last night.
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“It bears stressing that at no time was any centre in Osun state shutdown as falsely portrayed in his report. Videos of the court-sacked YES or NO officials who are illegally occupying councils in Osun state visiting PHCs as they have no job to do, abounds on the internet.
“Only recently, Governor Ademola Adeleke toured some health centres in Osun state, which was widely covered by the media in the state, further puncturing the lies peddled in his report.
“Osun health centres are open and continues to serve the health needs of the public at the grassroot. In fact, the Osun State Government is currently implementing the rehabilitation of the remaining PHCs in the state to add to the 200 PHCs fully rehabilitated and equipped last year.
“So, there is no truth whatsoever in the claim that health centres in Osun state are closed. The lie is the invention of enemies of the state, but the public are rest assured that they will not succeed,” he noted.
Sodiq Yusuf is a trained media practitioner and journalist with considerable years of experience in print, broadcast, and digital journalism. His interests cover a wide range of causes in politics, governance, sports, community development, and good governance.
