Rivers State Deputy Governor, Dr Ipalibo Harry Banigo has commended a former commissioner for health in the state, Dr. Sampson Parker, for recognising local content in establishing a Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory in the state.
Banigo, who applauded the State Chief Executive, Chief Nyesom Wike for being a very health-friendly, said the governor has made huge investments in the health sector, adding that he equally spends as much in other sectors, such as security, education, social services and infrastructure.
Banigo gave this commendation during the official opening of DDW Molecular Laboratories in Port Harcourt, last Monday.
According to the deputy governor, “We are happy he is one of our own, we are sure that he will meet up the guidelines and standard of NCDC, and whatever result that comes out from here will be acknowledged internationally”.
Banigo urged him to employ qualified local staff to reduce unemployment in the state and ensure that his fees are affordable to the Rivers people.
“I want to thank our governor, for giving his approval for this project to be sited here; I also want to thank NCDC for reaching out to the private sector to open up laboratories knowing that they have a role to play”, she stressed.
“He is a governor that really loves health, he talks and thinks about health, he believes that you must first have health before you can talk about going to school, you have to be alive first before talking about safety”, the public health physician said.
The deputy governor expressed gratitude to the governor, for encouraging private medical practitioners in the state, stressing that a few years back, he gave N500million loan to private hospitals in Rivers State, for them to improve their outlook, infrastructure, and equipment.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority, Chief Ferdinand Alabraba, who was also the chairman of the occasion, commended Parker and his team for setting up the laboratory in the state, noting that COVID-19 pandemic has changed our way of conducting our personal, social and business activities.
He said, “We must explore all possible means to live with COVID and its mutations”.
Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of DDW Molecular Laboratories, Dr. Sampson Parker, had said DDW Molecular Laboratories was established to institute affordable, accessible, reliable high-end molecular diagnostics in Nigeria.
According to him, “During the Ebola crisis, there was nothing like molecular diagnostics in Nigeria, it was a shame that the German Government had to donate a machine to us for testing, we built one in UPTH and there was one in Lagos”, which he said necessitated his desire to go into molecular laboratory business.