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UFMS Unrealistic -RSG
The Rivers State Government has said that it will not implement any unrealistic policy such as the Universal Free Medical Service (UFMS) embarked upon by the previous administration because of its lean finances, and the discriminatory nature of the programme.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Theophilus Odagme, said this during an interactive session with journalists as part the roundtable organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) on the way forward in implementing the project on “Healthcare In Danger In South-South” in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Odagme added: “The Universal Free Medical Programme embarked upon by the past government was not a realistic goal; it had a lot of political undertones. I say this with all sense of humility and honesty.”
The commissioner emphasized that “Before the last government, we had a free medical service that the government between 1999 and 2007 embarked upon, which covered four groups: Pregnant women, children under five years of age due to high prevalence of childhood killer diseases in this age group, the elderly (60 years and above), the physically-challenged as well as families of legionnaires, among others.
“But when the past government came on board in 2007, rather than continue with this programme predicated on the vulnerable groups, it started a universal free medical service, which was challenged by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) as unrealistic since healthcare cannot be funded solely by government,” Odagme noted.
The commissioner recalled that “the last time free medical service was paid for by the Rivers State Government was in December, 2013”, adding that “from 2014 to May 29, 2015, no free medical service provided by either government personnel or private clinics was paid for. So, it has died natural death because it is not practicable”.
He stressed that “the Governor Nyesom Wike-led government can only take care of some groups, and not a universal free medical service, where everyone that is ill would depend on government, and after few months, it would crash due to limited resources from the state”.
The health commissioner pointed out that: “We are at a very unique time in our state’s history. During the last administration, we had such a unique economic situation in the state because there was so much money for government to implement various projects and initiate phantom policies. But because of the few resources in the state, and the nation at large, we cannot do universal free medical service.
“Although, there would be some kind of free medical programme for some vulnerable groups, this does not imply that this government has neglected free medical service. This government cannot operate at that level of universal free medical care, which is an unrealistic policy,” he emphasised.
Odagme said that the government was “at the moment doing what we call damage control, as a lot of damage was done to the system by the free medical care policy of the last administration” adding that both secondary and tertiary healthcare services were abandoned by the last administration.
“The only thing that was attended to was the primary healthcare, which was not enough. A number of the primary healthcare centres built were not equipped, and even when they were equipped, they were not well-structured to function optimally,” he added.
He noted that the interactive health forum organized by ICRC to chart the way forward on “healthcare in danger”, especially in Rivers State, was apt and timely, given the destructive impact of the last administration’s health policy, and restated the Rivers State Government’s commitment to work with the international humanitarian organization to find lasting solution to the challenges facing efficient and effective healthcare delivery in the state.
Susan Serekara-Nwikhana
The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.
This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.
The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.
The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.
From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.
Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.
From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.
The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.
The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the Polytechnic, recently.
Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.
He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.
This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly, Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.
Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.
He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.
The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.
Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.
Chinedu Wosu
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