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Investigation:Poor Abuse , Communication,Others Bedevil Kwara Health Insurance Scheme

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Kwara Health Insurance Scheme

 

In 2020, the Kwara State Government, launched the Kwara Health Insurance Scheme (KHIS) to make access to basic healthcare by Kwara indigents seamless. The program however hasn’t been entirely flawless. In this report, Omolola Afolabi unravels some of the inadequacies bedeviling the scheme in the state.

For Sanni Amuda, a 46-year-old artisan in Awodi Gambari, Ilorin, the past few years have been akin to sprinting through the fog. His income has been irregular whilst also struggling with meeting his family’s needs.

He recalls a watershed moment when the government announced the commencement of the Kwara State Health Insurance Scheme (KHIS). He said he felt he could save funds and take care of his wife and four children’s medical needs by subscribing to the scheme but he soon met a brick wall of challenges.

“I was so excited about the scheme as I thought it would make access to quality healthcare for my family and I easy and affordable. I went with my wife and four children and after a long, stressful day of queuing up to register, we eventually got all our names and passport photographs captured. They promised to call me soon to pick up our cards but till this moment, they have not communicated that to me.”

Sanni Audu

Sanni Audu

Amuda who works as a carpenter has seen his enthusiasm give way to disbelief. He says the scheme is a scam. He was vehement.

The scheme allows for a maximum number of six persons to enroll from each family but it’s been six months since Amuda registered his family without any official proof.

A scheme blighted with challenges

The Kwara State Health Insurance Scheme was established by law in November 2017 to provide mandatory health insurance coverage to all residents of Kwara State, particularly the indigent people amongst its burgeoning population of 3.2 million people.

The insurance package provides coverage for consultations, diagnostic tests, and medication for all disease categories, including hypertension and diabetes, that can be managed at a primary health care level and limited coverage of secondary care services.

Secondary care services provided include radiological and more complex laboratory diagnostic tests and hospital admissions for different disease categories, minor and intermediate surgery, antenatal care and delivery care, neonatal care, immunizations, annual check-ups and HIV/AIDS treatment care support.

Excluded from the program are high technology investigations (computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging), major surgeries and complex eye surgeries, family planning commodities, treatment for substance abuse/addiction, and cancer care requiring chemotherapy.

According to Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazak in 2021, about 30,000 people have registered under the scheme with only 5 per cent benefiting from the scheme. The scheme, according to Kwara indigents and residents who spoke with Solacebase has been fraught with several problems right from its inception. The inadequacies are seen in the poor rate of adoption and utilization of the scheme by the people.

Amuda added that despite being an indigent in Kwara, he still spends a significant part of his meagre earnings on healthcare for his family. The scheme, touted by the Abdulrazak-led administration in different quarters as a novel initiative, has become a shadow of its projected promises.

A Kwara indigene, Falilat Ajoke, said she had enrolled for the scheme 3 months ago and has been left in the dark with no response to her enquiries.

“I have had some health challenges for a while now and it would have been better managed if I was able to get information from the designated quarters. Because of my state of pregnancy, I looked forward to accessing the services but when their contact number was not reachable, my only resort was to consult traditional and private facilities.”

Faliat Ajoke

Faliat Ajoke

Mrs Falilat Ajoke has dialed the number designated for calls severally by the KHIS without any response .

Ajoke reiterated that the contact numbers of the scheme were not reachable when she and her friends attempted to reach the agency for enquiries without success. Attempts by Solacebase to reach KHIS via its contact numbers on 08148831004, 09024770622 were futile. Calls placed to the numbers didn’t connect.

The Scheme doesn’t profit us: The private sector

Sitting on a sprawling chair in a private hospital in the centre of Ilorin, a young medical officer, Sekina Jimoh wears a defiant countenance. Dressed in a floral chiffon blouse with a pen in her hands, Jimoh was drafting a prescription during this reporter’s visit.

According to her, the hospital has been running at a loss since the commencement of the scheme. She explained that:

“Challenges on our part are more of finances because of the capitation which is still not sufficient for the type of treatment we offer. There are a lot of old patients with hypertension and diabetes and other illnesses that patronize us every 10 days or two weeks and sometimes we have to run tests and dispense the required medications without charging them.”

Capitation is the payments agreed upon by a health insurance company and a medical service provider. They are fixed, pre-arranged monthly payments received by a physician, clinic, or hospital per patient enrolled in a health plan, or per capita.

According to the medical officer, the hospital ensures the capitation on every of their patient is judiciously expended and when it is exhausted, we ensure the treatment is completed or it gets to a safe stage before a referral, in case a need for that arises.

She explained that Kwara State wouldn’t reimburse for vital extra services rendered by the medical facility to members of the scheme. The capitation given is not enough, she stressed.

Asked how the hospital makes up for this loss, she said, “As per humanitarian service, well we can’t deny the patient his or her drugs. It will eventually be a burden on the hospital when the registered patient develops complications. So we attend to them and make up for it in other places when the possibility comes.”

She explained that primary and secondary treatments, primary and maternal care, child care, and malaria are the treatments her hospital offer. She, however, clarified that this is a general problem and that private hospitals are not discriminated against by the state government.

About the hospital’s referral policy under the scheme, she said: “We only refer patients when it is absolutely necessary. To do that, we reach out to the Kwara Health Insurance Agency with the patient’s details to release a code.”

“The “genuinely poor” are cheated out of the system”

Partnering with the Islamic Development Bank and a group of non-profit organizations dedicated to improving access to quality healthcare in Africa, PharmAccess, Kwara Health Insurance Scheme (KHIS) was designed to improve access to medical care by rural, and low-income communities who often struggle with high out-of-pocket expenses when seeking healthcare.

Touted as a unique initiative, government officials often claim this objective has not been derailed since the launch of the project. However, findings by Solacebase proved otherwise as high-income earners are gaming the system, thereby reducing the chances of poor people benefiting from the scheme.

The nurse and Officer-in-charge of Zango Ward Clinic and Maternity, Ilorin East Local Government Area (LGA) who simply identified herself as Khadijah recalls an incident when a wealthy car dealer came with his large family and several other employees to register as indigents.

“He would not agree to register otherwise and officials were left with no choice than to capture them as such,” she said.

Another nurse, Muslimah Adetoun lamented that wealthy indigenes come under the guise of not being able to afford the paid scheme. This invariably limits the chances of those who are genuinely poor.

She added that several registered members of the scheme have stopped patronizing hospitals due to  lack of confidence and poor access to the scheme adding that many people do not have official proof of enrollment. She lamented that many residents who enrolled have relocated from the communities where they initially registered and find it difficult to transfer their subscription to another clinic.

 

 

 

She explained that communicating with KHIS office is often challenging which makes giving them feedback discouraging.

“We tried to create a feedback channel so we can communicate some of the issues we encounter but that has been neglected as we are never able to reach them”

Kulende Primary Health Centre, Ilorin Eaast LGA, looks

deserted with old and rustic-looking equipment. Mariam Abdulkareem, a nurse, heads the PHC. Although she acknowledged that her PHC has 201 enrollees, a great number of people who require the service offered by the scheme are yet to benefit.

“There is a service offered by the scheme for civil servants but they haven’t added maternity fee for now. Up to 50 per cent of the capitation is given to the health centre and an extra is added during emergencies.”

“Some have registered and for long their names are yet to be officially captured and sent to the health centre. They have come up to complain several times about it, but I always tell them I’m not the one in charge so they always have to go home gloomy,” she lamented.

Primary Health Care is dead in Kwara, expert

Dr. Adekunle Salau is a medical professional who has been working in Kwara State for over ten years. He said the state is poor and struggles to pay the national minimum wage adding that poor remuneration eventually affects the health-seeking behaviour of the people.

“When the standard of living of a people is low, they won’t have a lot to spend on health and medical emergencies. Therefore, health insurance is supposed to step in to take care of that. Even the ones that are not emergencies, health insurance should be able to cover for it,” Salau said.

However, Salau opined that the availability of a health insurance scheme is not as important as the availability of quality health facilities to deliver the provisions of the scheme.

“If people are enrolled in the health insurance and are not able to access good healthcare, the purpose is defeated. They move away from PHCs to the general hospitals. The general hospitals are doing well but the issue is that they have a very high patient load and they are seriously understaffed. This, therefore, discourages a lot of people from visiting the general hospitals,” he added.

“But when the hospital close to you, can’t give you what you want then you would have no choice but to look elsewhere.”

He explained that it is difficult for people to fully benefit from the insurance scheme if there are no commensurate healthcare services, especially at the primary healthcare level which is usually the closest to them.

 

He stressed that PHCs are as good as dead in Kwara state. “Our PHCs are understaffed. It is one of the factors limiting people’s access to healthcare and rather fuels the bad habit of health seekers who rely on self-medication, patent medicine sellers and quacks.”

On efforts needed to create a linkage between health insurance and access to quality healthcare at PHC level, Salau said there is more work to be done as current realities don’t augur well for the country, predominantly the rural populace.

He explained that PHCs should be able to manage diseases such as malaria, and tuberculosis. But with the unavailability of drugs and necessary equipment, patients readily turn to alternative care.

“I understand it’s not the job of the insurance agencies to equip and staff health facilities but when these facilities don’t have the necessary working tools, the goal of the insurance scheme will be defeated. Equipping healthcare facilities should be where the real insurance should start from because that is where people who live in rural areas first turn to.”

The KHIS refused to comment on the issue. Initial multiple attempts to reach the executive director, KHIS, Dr Olubunmi Jetawo-Winter had proved abortive.

Later in a separate phone conversation with this reporter, Jetawo-Winter, promised to respond to the questions and asked that the email be resent.  When the questions were sent to her, Jetawo-Winter became evasive requesting the reporter to resend the email using an official email address. As of the time of filing this report, she still hasn’t replied the questions posed to her. Some of the questions contained in the email sent to her bothered on equitable utilization of the scheme, poor communication and feedback channel between the agency and other stakeholders amongst others.

Meanwhile, on May 27, the information desk of KHIS eventually replied to emails asking for comments. The desk promised to grant an interview with Solacebase on the issue soon.  As at the time of filing this report, the agency is yet to get back to this newspaper despite repeated reminders.

Efforts to reach out to the Country Directors of PharmAccess Foundation, Mrs Njide Ndili, and Regional Head, Islamic Development Bank, Mayaro were also unsuccessful. They are yet to respond to calls, emails and text messages sent to them at the time of filing this report.

This publication is produced with support from the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development, Inclusion and Accountability project (CMEDIA) funded by the MacArthur Foundation.

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Kano Women Battle for Bed Spaces at Major Hospitals, Leaving Many Stranded or Worse – Dead

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Baby Amina is yet to cry over a week after her birth, as no bed available at tertiary health facilities

Aisha Ahmad Ismail

It was a dark day for Malama Khadija, who despite heavy bleeding with no pads on has been on the road for almost 8 hours, seeking help for a baby that has not cried a day after birth even after visiting 9 hospitals in Kano.

The new mother was forced to ride in her husband’s tricycle, ignoring the dripping blood as they went to 9 hospitals, none accepted them for mainly reasons of bed space

Khadija birthed a girl on Monday, when health care workers at asibitin Bela noticed the child did not cry, and later referred them to Hasiya Bayero Pediatric Hospital for better access to professionals.

Here, a security guard asked them to ‘not waste their time’ as they do not care for children who did not cry at birth.

Other hospitals, the new parents visited Murtala Muhammad specialist where the father said the child was first checked, and her legs pinched with ‘something’.
They were later asked to leave for lack of bed space, and referred to another hospital.

The worried mother held the little girl now named Aminatu as they headed to Muhammad Abdullahi Wase Teaching Hospital. There, the doctors refused to attend to the child because they were on strike.

Malam Bala, the new father and a tricycle rider told this reporter that a police officer threatened to shoot a doctor for delayed attendance to his daughter born with similar condition to his. Doctors asked them to leave.

The brave new parents jostled the new born to another pediatric hospital; Sheikh Khalifa Isyaku Rabiu Pediatrics Hospital along Zoo Road, and their hopes were raised when a doctor started checking on her. A few minutes later, she came up with the same answer as the specialist hospital – no bed space.

Again, they left for Aminu Kano Teaching hospital with the help of a philanthropist they met on their long, hope dashing journey, Hajiya Binta and like before, there was no available bed space.

The parents, exhausted but not giving up on their child, went to a private health facility, where a bed space costs N10,000 per night, something the father said he could not afford if not for the charitable efforts of Hajiya Binta.

With her help, they paid for file N5,000, tests to be run on little Aminatu N6,000, drugs cost N15,000 and an injection N4,000.

He said they were able to spend just one night, as the expenses were much and he had to owe the hospital N21, 000.
Little Aminatu did not cry 7 days after her birth at which was the time of filing this report, and her parents are at home hoping one day, she would cry or stay quiet forever.

Khadija’s case is amongst the many maternal health related complications in the state; in Sept. 2022, a lady, Zainab lost her child and her life at Murtala Muhammad Specialist hospital; in February 2023, a woman now late Hajiya Shema’u Sani Labaran bled to death due to lack of cash at hand for treatments.
In 2024, an investigation by Solace base led to a whole community of women at Mazan Gudu community, Gabasawa LGA who survive pregnancy and childbirth on luck.

These are not isolated cases; but few of the many increasing preventable deaths at childbirth. According to UNICEF in 2018, Nigeria contributes 14% of global maternal deaths. The global body says at least 262, 000 babies die at birth, as the infant mortality rate stands at 69% per 1,000 births.

According to the National Health Care Development Agency 145 women die daily at childbirth in the country, with the highest figures coming from Northern Nigeria.

The staggering figures of maternal mortality and morbidity must have alarmed the Kano state government, leading to finding ways to ease the burden, amongst which is the creation of the Kano State Health Trust Fund created in 2017.
Women Die at Birth Despite Government’s Claimed Enhanced Funding
“I just returned from the burial of a woman who died from childbirth complications, the child is alive and hearty.”

This is the response of the Ja’en ward head, located at Sharada, Gwale LG, Isma’il Sa’ad Usman to the question of maternal mortality and morbidity is his domain.

He said he is not entirely sure why, but despite government’s interventions and NGOs, maternal deaths are not uncommon in many areas in Kano, including his.

Our trip to the primary health care in the area was really short, as health officers were ‘afraid’ of the media.

The Ja'en PHC was bustling with women hoping to get ante-natal care

The Ja’en PHC was bustling with women hoping to get ante-natal care

However, one officer who spoke briefly said women at the local level are wising up to accessing health facilities like theirs, adding that the state has trained officers enabling them to quickly refer to complicated births to higher facilities.
Interviews at some primary health care facilities reveal reduced death rates at the facilities.

A tour of Gwagwarwa primary health care showed women showing up for antenatal as health personnel move around to cater for their needs.

A health personnel at the facility who spoke on anonymously said though there are deaths at childbirth or after due to complications, they mostly occur at secondary and tertiary institutions or at home.

 

Image 3 . Women attending ante natal at Gwagwarwa PHC

Women attending ante natal at Gwagwarwa PHC

The health officer revealed that whenever a complication arises from birth, they are quick to refer to more qualified facilities, but lack of bed spaces of money for basic things make the patients return home, only to later die from preventable health complications.

According to the source, they have heard stories of deaths of either mother and child, or one of the two afterwards.

The village head of Gama, Malam Rabi’u Muhd Isyaku said people are poor, and have resorted to seeking help from Friday mosques or radio stations to treat maternal health problems.

He said there are reports of maternal mortality, but it hardly goes public as they are mostly recorded at home.

“I am always heart broken when I hear a plea for help to cater for a pregnant woman during or after birth,” he added.
Nurse Laments Maternal Mortality; Blames Shortage of Staff .

Nurse Maimuna works at one of the government hospitals in Kano, she said they have recorded deaths at different stages of childbirth.

She said they have recorded deaths due to obstructed labor and prolonged labor that comes late to the hospital.

The nurse added that some women labor (active labor) for 20-30 hours, contrary to the ‘normal’ hours, leading to eventual deaths of both mother and child, or just the child.

Nurse Maimuna lamented how they are overwhelmed with patients that they skip women who are in need in urgent help or C-section.

She has witnessed few women die due to work overload that distracts health personnel at tertiary some institutions.
KHETFUND: Improved Maternal Health Care Promises Fulfilled?

In 2017, the Kano government led by former Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje championed the State Trust Fund to help augment the state budget on health, including maternal and newborn health.
Speaking with this reporter, the former state health commissioner, Dr. Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa said the law mandates 5% of the fund’s money to the health sector.

He said from the time of Governors Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso to Malam Ibrahim Shekarau and Abdullahi Ganduje, there has been a free birth and post birth policy which all governments sustained irrespective of political ideologies.

Former health commissioner Kano, Dr. Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa

Former health commissioner Kano, Dr. Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa

However, there are times when the budget funds are not released on time, or the government is starved of cash, thus the 5% of the fund to ensure the maternal and childbirth ‘always’ gets the necessary attention and funds.
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Also speaking with this reporter, the director operations, KHETFUND, Dr. Muhamad Lawan Adamu said the 5% for maternal and children is on standing order and has never been delayed, unlike funds meant for hospitals- from primary to tertiary, institutions and others.

According to him, the 5% is handed over to the Kano Hospitals Management Board monthly.

According to another official of KHETFUND, Hamisu Abubakar who is the director admin and services, there has been constant cash flow into the fund from the mandatory 5% monthly IGR and 1% from LGAs allocation since the inception of the current Abba Kabir Yusuf administration, signaling that the fund is not starved of funds.
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KHETFUND Budget Performance
The Kano State Health Care Fund mandates that 50% of the budget be allocated to hospital (Pri, Secondary and Tertiary), 25% to health education institutions 2% to running of the fund, 2% to the vulnerable groups, 5% to maternal health care.

Kano budget performance shows low performance of the KHETFUND; however, this does not affect the 5% maternal health care fund as confirmed by officials of KHETFUND.

The 1st quarter of 2024 budget shows 0% performance of the budget despite the allocation of N800,000,000 to the fund as shown on page 7.

With a budget of N1,200,000,000 in 2023, the fund recorded only 2.1% budget performance, also as seen on page 7 of the document.

With a budget of N1,400,000,000 in 2022, KHETFUND had a 5% budget performance as seen on page 6 of the budget performance document.

YEAR
AMOUNT
PERFORMANCE %

2024
N800m
0%

2023
N1.2bn
2.1%

2022
N1.4bn
5%

Source: Kano budget performance documents

The low performance, according to a KHETFUND official, is not unconnected to the fact that hospitals and institutions do not write to the fund requesting for their needs.

Dr. Muhamad Lawan Adamu, director operations of the fund said they disburse funds only when requested and after due process – with the exception of the maternal health 5% of course.
Despite 5% KHETFUND Maternal Allocation, Why Maternal Health Crisis?
A trip to the Kano Hospital Management Board as directed by the Kano State Health Ministry through the spokesperson, Ibrahim Abdullahi led me to the office of the officer in charge KHETFUND at the board.

He however refused to speak for ‘lack of authorization’ to speak with the media on the issue.

Another trip to the board revealed that the 5% fund from KHETFUND was received regularly. Speaking anonymously, an official said there are many factors for persistent problems with maternal health in Kano.

The first issue the official raised was that the fund was only meant to ‘augment’ needs in the sector, and this will be based on request.

The second problem the official noted was lack of enough doctors/health personnel to man any additional bed or space at the hospitals thus the fund was used to purchase drugs and all other valuables/instruments, including for CS to care for pregnant women and the babies.

NGOs Worry Over Shortage of Bedspaces, underutilization of PHCs
Sanusi Hashim, is the contact person for Society for Child Support and Economic Empowerment, he said they are worried by widely reported maternal deaths despite increased funding and positive government policies.

According to him, many factors are responsible for the trend including
Under utilization of PHCs; According to the officer, they have come to understand that most pregant women would rather go to the ‘bigger’ hospitals that the Primary Health Cares within their locality. Though some PHCs are in terrible conditions, many have been improved to even carry out Cesarean Sections should the need arise. He said these could have eased pressure on the secondary and tertiary health facilities in the state, reduce mortality rate further and provide adequate health care to both mother and child – free of charge.

Lack of bed spaces: Due to the inflow of patients from all 44 LGAs in Kano, Mr. Hashim Sa’id there is congestion and lack of space. He revealed that a tour to one of the tertiary hospitals; Abdullahi Wase Teaching Hospital showed no bed space available to cater for more patients. This he said.

NGO Provides Additional Solutions to Maternal Mortality and Morbidity
Society for Child Support and Economic Empowerment said there is urgent need for government to equip, upgrade and provide adequate personnel at ‘all’ primary health care centers in the state.

The contact person, of the organization, Sanusi Hashim says this will take excellent health care to the doorstep of the masses in all LGA, thus reduce pressure on the secondary and tertiary institutions.

After that, he advocates for intensive campaign on the importance and need for pregnant women to patronize PHCs in their areas.

Sanusi also called on the Kano State Government to increase wards and bed spaces at all health facilities.
On their parts, traditional leaders at Sharada Ja’en and Gwagwarwa seek increased funding and special packages for the poor in the society.

 

 

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How Maryam Abacha Varsity Produced 5 Provosts of Nursing Colleges, 1,000 Lab Scientists, 100 Lawyers, Others in 12 Years

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Twelve years after its establishment, the Maryam Abacha American University of Niger (MAAUN), in Maradi, Niger Republic, has produced five Provosts of Nursing Colleges in Borno, Yobe, and Bauchi States.

Dr. Hadiza Sabo a graduate of Nursing from the University is the current Provost of Shehu Sule College of Nursing and Midwifery, in Damaturu, Yobe state.

Varsity Appoints Gombe Emir As Chancellor

Equally, Dr. Hadiza Yahya is serving as Provost, College of Nursing Sciences in Maiduguri, Borno state, while Dr. Rakiya Saleh is the Provost College of Nursing Sciences in Bauchi, Bauchi state. The trio of Rakiya and the two aforementioned Hadizas all bagged their first and postgraduate degrees from MAAUN.

In addition, Kiloh Nifor who is also the Provost, College of Nursing Sciences in Jalingo, Taraba state, and Dr. Yusuf Bello, the Provost, Kaduna State College of Nursing Sciences, are also alumni of the university.

MAAUN, which was founded in 2013, is owned by Professor Adamu Abubakar Gwarzo, a philanthropist and French Linguistics scholar.

Politics Digest also reports that the Faculty of Law of the premier Ivory Tower, established only in 2015, has produced over 400 law graduates, with more than a hundred of them already called to the Nigerian Bar.

In addition, over 1,000 Medical Laboratory Scientists produced by MAAUN are presently working in Nigeria, while no fewer than 700 of them are practicing abroad.

It would be recalled that the institution was the first to offer a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing in Niger Republic, where thousands of nursing officers trooped for their university education from different countries.

“The Nursing Degree programme greatly increased the number of nursing graduates in Nigeria. The university started offering Nursing in 2012 and has so far graduated over 2,000 graduates who are rendering their services at different hospitals in Nigeria and abroad,” said the university’s President, Prof. Adamu Abubakar Gwarzo.

Barrister Umar Isa Sulaiman, a law lecturer at MAAUN, while informing Politics Digest that their Faculty commenced academic activities in 2013, said: “Our graduates are working in different government agencies and parastatals. Some are Sharia Court Judges, Magistrates, and some are working in the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

“Also, a high number of our graduates are in private practice. We do meet and appear before different courts. I can categorically tell you that they are doing wonderfully well as advocates.”

Furthermore, the Prof. Adamu Gwarzo-owned university has been positively impacting the lives of several Nigerians.

A MAAUN graduate of Nursing, Hamisu Iliyasu, who hailed from Sokoto State, told this newspaper how his alma mater produced many Directors and Heads of Nursing Colleges in Nigeria.

“You know universities in the North don’t offer Nursing; you either go to the South or you end up retiring at Level 14 as a civil servant. But our prestigious Maryam Abacha American University came to the rescue of so many of us, and we are grateful,” he said.

According to Dr. Kabiru Mahmud, a staff member of the Medical Laboratory Sciences Department of MAAUN, “Our great and pace-setting university has helped increase the number of Medical Laboratory Scientists, not only in Northern Nigeria but in the country at large. We have students from across the country.

“Some came from Lagos, Benin, and Ibadan. I can categorically tell you that Maryam Abacha American University of Niger has the highest number of young Medical Laboratory Scientists in Nigeria.

“Before now, one could hardly find someone with a degree in this field, but only a Diploma. But MAAUN came and provided the opportunity to many undergraduates. Go to Federal Medical Centres across the country, and you will find it difficult counting the number of their staff who are our products.”

Checks by this newspaper further revealed that some MAAUN alumni are presently working at the National Hospital in Abuja and the Mallam Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, AKTH, in Kano state.

The university according to findings has the highest number of Nurses working in Canada, USA and other foreign countries from West Africa.

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Hotoro Residents Threaten to Vote Out Leaders in 2027 Over Dilapidated Road

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The untarred and dilapidated road

Residents of Hotoro in Kano State are voicing their growing frustration with local and state leaders over the deplorable condition of a key road in their community. In interviews with Nigerian Tracker, the residents expressed deep dissatisfaction and issued a warning that they may withhold their votes in the 2027 elections if their concerns continue to be ignored.

Shehu Usman, a long-time resident of Hotoro, articulated the sentiments of many in the area. “Our area is a vote bank, not just in Nassarawa Local Government but across the whole of Kano State,” Usman said. “Yet, the road is no longer passable in both the rainy and dry seasons, and those we elected—from the Governor to the Chairman and even the legislators—seem not to care about the deplorable state of this road.

The road in question, which remains untarred, stretches from the Ring Road around Nur Petroleum Junction, passes through Hotoro Primary and Secondary Schools, and ends at the Hotoro Police Division. The poor state of the road has been a long-standing issue, but despite repeated complaints, nothing has been done to address it.

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Iliya Musa, another concerned resident, lamented that politicians only seem to care about the community during election season. “During election season, politicians flock to our area, making promises and shaking hands. But once they are in office, they turn a deaf ear to our problems,” Musa said. “This road could easily be constructed, but our leaders have ignored us, and now, it feels like the area is turning into a slum.”

As 2027 approaches, the residents of Hotoro are making it clear that their votes will not be taken for granted. If their elected leaders fail to address the worsening conditions in the community, they may face a harsh electoral backlash from a constituency that has had enough of broken promises.

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