Former President Goodluck Jonathan has revealed that among
the numerous bills he assented to while in office as president, three of them
have remained very dear to his heart.
Jonathan gave the insight during his remarks as a Special
Guest of Honour at the opening of a three-day Health Summit organised by the
Bayelsa State Government in Yenagoa, the state capital, on Monday.
He listed the three special bills as the National Health
Bill, the Freedom of Information Bill and the Nigerian Local Content Bill
establishing the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board.
Among dignitaries present at the event were Governor Douye
Diri, Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire; Director-General, Nigeria Centre
for Disease Control, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu; WHO Country Representative, Dr Walter
Kazadi Mulombo; and Dr Osahon Enabulele, who was the keynote speaker.
The former president, however, said that among the three
pieces of legislation the Local Content Law was making the most impact because
it provided for a board to oversee the activities of the NCDMB.
Jonathan, a former governor of Bayelsa State, became Acting
President in May 2010 following the sudden death of President Umaru Musa
Yar’Adua, and was later elected president in 2011 on the platform of their
party, the Peoples Democratic Party.
He was defeated in 2015 by the incumbent President, Major
General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), of the then opposition All Progressives
Congress.
Jonathan said, “I thank the Honourable Minister (of Health)
and the (state) Commissioner for Health made reference to the National Health
Bill that I signed into law in 2014. As a president, I signed so many bills
into law, government bills and private bills.
“But there are three bills that till today I am quite
pleased that we signed into law. The National Health Bill is one of them. The
second one is the Freedom of Information Bill that affects my good media people
and the third is the Nigerian Local Content Bill.
“But the Local Content Law provides a board that manages the
process; they are working very well and the results are obvious. But these
other two are not because there is no ombudsman kind of to oversee what is
being done.
“Most cases I believe that 30 to 40 per cent of doctors
practising in Nigeria will not even know the details about that (National
Health) Bill. So I will request the Honourable Minister, as you go back to
Abuja; luckily from what you said, you are expanding on that Act, may be
developing a manual to guide practitioners.
“I think there is a need for a summit or conference that
will dwell only on that Act for state actors, private actors and even those who
teach in the university. Before you graduate as a doctor you should really have
an idea about the law.
“And when the states are domesticating that law based on
local circumstances with a clear knowledge of the law, it will help us greatly
to improve on our health services.”
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