By Amos Aar
MEMBER representing Guma 1 state constituency at the Benue State House of Assembly, Dr Yanmar Ortese, who has resigned from the Assembly to serve as Commissioner for Health in Governor Hyacinth Alia’s government, on Monday expressed deep concern over deplorable condition of health institutions in the state which according to him is responsible for high maternal/mortality rate.
Dr Yanmar who spoke with journalists at Government House, Makurdi shortly after he submitted his letter of resignation to the House of Assembly said the decay of the state’s health facilities needs to be undone to save the lives of the people especially women and children.
“Our pregnant women are still dying with pregnancy, our children of under 5 years are dying without vaccinations.
“If you go by the secondaryy health institutions, our general hospitals are nothing to talk about. I think we need a touch of that. Our only teaching hospital needs to be revisited as a matter of fact. I was there to see the young man who was kidnapped and brought back to Makurdi and what I saw, nobody would want to have such a place called a teaching hospital.
“So, if by the grace of God, His Excellency saddles me with the responsibility of taking care of the health sector, I will visit all those places so that we don’t have to travel to Abuja or Jos to get basic health treatment,” he promised.
Ortese, a personal physician to Governor Alia, attributed the recent abduction of a medical doctor, Dr Asema Msuega, in Ukum LGA to lack of vaccination which he was struggling to secure for the local government.
“It was even during the course of trying to make sure that Ukum local government gets its own share of vaccinations that one of our doctors was kidnapped. So, definitely, we will look at the maternal child care.
Asked why he decided to dump the legislative mandate given him by the people of Guma for the position of Commissioner where he is only an appointee and can be fired anytime, Ortese said he knows all the health challenges facing Benue State and has garnered immense experience with which to reposition the sector for the betterment of the people.
According to him, he is the only medical doctor on the list of commissioner-nominees who will be sworn in later on Tuesday, August 29, 2023, hence his confidence to be assigned to the Ministry of Health.
“The governor deemed it fit to have nominated me from the Assembly to serve in his cabinet.
“I’m the only medical doctor on the list and by the grace of God, I will be appointed the Commissioner of Health. I’m very conversant with the health problems in my state because after medical school in 1996, I spent almost the whole time practicing Medicine in Benue State.
“I was at the Federal Medical Centre [Makurdi] for 8 years before I became the personal physician to the serving governor of Benue State for 8 years. So, I have traversed all the local governments in Benue State,” Dr Ortese said.
Before he submitted his resignation letter to quit the job of legislation, Dr Yanmar Ortese presented a bill for the prohibition of extortion of money, harassment of businessmen and developers within the state, and other matters connected therewith before he tendered his resignation letter. The bill was read on the floor of the Assembly for the first time.
Speaker of the House, Hon. Aondona Dajoh, declared the Guma State constituency seat vacant after Dr Ortese’s resignation letter was read by Deputy Clerk of the House and called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a by-election for the constituency.
