The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has handed over 12 new ambulances to hospitals across Abuja to strengthen emergency healthcare delivery.
Speaking at the handover ceremony on Thursday, Wike said the intervention was part of efforts to improve emergency response within the territory’s health system. He connected the investment in ambulances to his administration’s focus on road infrastructure.
“So many people were saying, ‘Why are we concentrating on road infrastructure?'” Wike stated. “But people forget that these ambulances may break down when there are no good roads. When patients call and the roads are not in good condition, then the whole sense of the emergency vehicles becomes useless.”
The minister added that 14 health centres across the FCT are being rehabilitated and furnished, and that authorities have been directed to recruit additional health sector personnel. “For us, we will do everything possible to give our people the best,” he said.
The Mandate Secretary of the FCT Health Services and Environment Secretariat, Dr. Olalodipo Fasawe, described the ambulance distribution as a major step toward improving emergency healthcare.
She noted that ongoing road projects have significantly reduced travel time to healthcare facilities, especially in rural areas. “For example, in areas like Abaji, Kwali, Gwagwalada, the A2 to Pai road construction has made a journey that used to take one and a half hours to about 30 minutes,” Fasawe stated.
She also highlighted that the FCT Administration has paid outstanding allowances for healthcare workers, including 13 months of hazard allowance and the medical residency training fund, dating back to 2021. “I can confidently say that FCT is the only state that has paid all these allowances up to date,” she added.
