Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has approved the allocation of land to the National Health Insurance Scheme to construct its permanent office in the state.
He also set up a committee to ensure compliance with the relevant packages offered by the scheme.
Governor Ortom took the action today when a delegation from the national headquarters of the organization, led by the acting Executive Secretary, Mr. Olufemi Akingbade, visited him at the Benue Peoples House, in Makurdi.
The Governor directed the Commissioner of Health and Special Adviser on Lands and Survey to liaise with the NHIS and ensure that the demands of the organization were met as soon as possible.
He promised that his administration would key into programs of the Scheme, saying the health needs of people of the state were one of the top agenda of his administration.
Governor Ortom reiterated his commitment to collaboration with development partners in order to add value to service delivery in the state. According to him he demonstrated the commitment by making the provision of N5. 5 billion for the payment of counterpart funding in the supplementary budget he submitted to the State House of Assembly.Earlier, Acting Executive Secretary, Mr. Olufemi Akingbade had requested for a plot of land on which to build a model office for the scheme in the state.
He disclosed that the scheme had developed a draft framework on support strategies which could be forwarded to the State House of Assembly for consideration and possible passage into law.
Governor Ortom also received officials of the National Business and Technical Examinations Board, NABTEB, during which he appealed to the people of the state particularly youths to embrace science and technical education.
He said that brand of education would help them acquire skills that could make them self-sustaining.
The Governor urged the Ministry of Education to liaise with NABTEB officials with the objective of attaining the goals of the examination body.
Earlier, the State Coordinator, Mr. Justin Iyortyer decried the low patronage in the state and appealed to the Governor to prevail on the state Ministry of Education to make it mandatory for Junior Secondary School, JSS, three students to sit for the board’s examinations annually.