THE STATE HOUSE CLINIC AND THE FIRST LADY.

Nigeria’s first lady Aisha Buhari on October 9 called for a probe of the budget of the Aso rock villa clinic.

Mrs Buhari’s call came after she fell ill and visited the hospital for treatment only to find out among other inadequacies that the clinic did not have an x-ray machine.

Her daughter Zara Buhari Indimi had also raised alarm about the poor state of facilities at the clinic which is supposed to cater to the first family last week, with a call that the permanent secretary in the State House Jalal Arabi should account for the N3 billion provided in 2016 budget to upgrade facilities at the clinic.

The Aso Rock Clinic management in a response last week said it was short of funds for major projects and purchases and would demand the commercialization of the clinic’s operations to make it more efficient.

The first ladies call raised a lot of questions; where did the money for the State House clinic go?

If the money budgeted for such a high profile hospital such as the state House clinic cannot be accounted for, what then is the fate of the health centres in the rural areas?

The state house clinic has Aisha Buhari to speak for it, but who speaks for the ordinary Nigerian?

As with most allegations in Nigeria, the question of what happened to the N3 billion budgeted for the state House clinic will most likely not get any answer.

And after some time newer accusations will come up, such as those thrown up by Minister of State for Petroleum Ibe Kachikwu, which has to do with the country’s oil reserves and is therefore more pressing and it will be forgotten and at best remembered in passing.

Nigerians in the rural areas have long learnt that the government officials they elect are there for themselves, the welfare of the people they represent and who elected them is not of paramount interest. So now they resort to God to solve all their problems that basic infrastructure can address.

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