By Gbenga Akingbule
Ojima Samuel, 27, wife of a Solider who had three deliveries through cesarean section, said her third delivery which was carried out at the newly built lNigeria Army 7 Division Female / Maternity and Child Care Hospital is her best experience.
Gatekeepers News reports that another in- patient, 24-year-old Fatima Abubakar is full of smile as her 6-month old baby who suffered first degree burns is fast recuperating due to quality medical services rendered at the 7 Division Hopital.
These were just few of the many positive testimonies of the zeal and commitment of the Nigeria Army’s determination to boost the morale of troops fighting insurgency and safeguarding lives and properties within the 7 Division, says Lt Col Adeniyi Ogunsakin, Commander 7 Division Medical Services and Hospital.
Lt Col Ogunsakin who is a Consultant Orthopaedic and Trauma surgeon, while speaking to reporters, added that the Female/Maternity And Child Care Complex as well as Doctors Quaters which are the first in all Army Divisions in the country were constructed by the Genaral Officer Commading (GOC) of 7 Division, Major General Waidi Shaibu with a view of making healthcare delivery faster and efficient.
According to Ogunsakin, no stone is left unturned towards ensuring provision of quality healthcare and adequate response to welfare of officers and soldiers within the 7 Division of the Nigeria Army.
“Various intervention projects and programs that are centred on boosting the morale of troops have been ongoing but I must stress that the Army is a well organized Institution and will always continue to follow its laid down procedures in discharging its responsibilities “Ogunsakin said.
Fatima and her 6 Months Old baby
Ojima Samuel and her baby born through Cesarean Section .
As part of measures to ensure adequate response and monitoring, the hospital installed 24 hours surveillance cameras where the needed activities are being monitored to ensure compliance.
“We have enough drugs in our store and we are using the CCTV to monitor and ensuring compliance,” Ogunsakin said, adding that “for medical cases that is beyond our Hospital, we always make immediate refferal and evacuation to 44 Army Reference Hospital in Kaduna.”
In a press statement issued and signed by Mojor Adamu Umar Acting Deputy Director Army Public Relation 7 Division, the Army reinstated its commitment at ensuring the welfare of its personnel. The Army aslo seized the medium to dispel unfounded and misleading reports of its activities.
“The misguided source alleged lack of drugs at 7 Division Hospital. This is far from the truth, as 7 Division Medical Service and Hospital is well equipped with contemporary medical facilities and is being managed by professional military and civil medical doctors with adequate drugs administered to all patients. Unknown to the unapprised source, the Division has a monitoring and transparent feedback mechanism for ensuring drugs are properly administered at the hospital.
“Apart from the detailed log book which documents all patients who report sick and drugs administered to them, a CCTV is also installed at the pharmacy which records the activities and the dispensing of drugs at any point in time. Pertinent to state, that the CCTV Camera was recently upgraded to record voice – the HIK Vision Turbo High Definition Audio Camera. In essence, there are measures in place to monitor and prevent the issues raised in the malignant report as it relates to drug administration in the hospital. ” Major Umar said.
On the issue of lopsided promotion and special promotion, the Army wasted no time to educate persons with unfounded information that there are “criteria for such as trade, courses or date of last promotion. The simple truth is that promotion of soldiers in the Nigerian Army is done in line with the Nigerian Army Administrative Policies and Procedures 2015 (Revised) as stipulated in Chapter 7 (pages 31 to 33).
“It is pertinent to state that vacancies are allotted to formations and units by Army Headquarters Department of Army Administration and no commander has arbitrary powers to adjust such allocations. On the issue of special promotion, the criteria are also contained in the aforementioned document on page 33 para 6 (a-d) which includes Trade Classification, Gallantry, Citation and Establishment. Hence the special promotion was done in line with these criteria in a transparent manner and all formations and units under command were directed to abide strictly with the criteria.
Also , ” the false report myopically questioned meetings with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) without realizing that there are various lines of effort, including the humanitarian line in the management of complex security challenges such as the ongoing insurgency in the North East, which often requires a whole of society approach.
“Therefore, these international NGOs mostly interface with the military through the Headquarters Theater Command for all their activities. The latest of such call on the GOC was the United Nations – Office of the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) Team that came to make presentation on the planned decongestion of Internally Displaced Persons Camps in DIKWA, GAMBORU, NGALA and BANKI towns.
“The presentation was premised on the need to seek the GOC’s guidance on the security implications of selected sites for the construction of accommodation in the mentioned towns. The Division appreciates the special skills of reputable NGOs and sees them as partners, therefore, the allegation of the GOC fraternizing with NGOs shows smacks of ignorance on the part of the misguided source.
“The allegation of involvement with politicians to say the least is absurd and unfounded. The GOC is a seasoned and very professional senior officer in the discharge of his duties and does not in any way associate himself with politics of governance. Rather, he is more committed to issues of national security as he discharges his duty professionally in line with the mandate of Operation HADIN KAI and the Nigerian Army in general.
“As part of his routine activities the GOC frequently carries out Operational visits to formations and units under his command, to ensure operational efficiency which is necessary to achieve maximum security.
“For the records, it is important to state that Durbar is a parade in the Nigerian Army and is mandatory for all formations and units under command to routinely conduct durbar with soldiers once a month and forward the durbar report for the GOC’s perusal and necessary directives. In essence, the uninformed source is not familiar with the procedures for conduct of durbars in the Nigerian Army.
“Finally, the Division wishes to assure the general public that it will continue to uphold the high standards for which it is known and will not be distracted by unscrupulous misinformation campaigns orchestrated by anti-establishment agents. We therefore urge well-meaning Nigerians to disregard the campaign of calumny and continue to support the Division in its fight against the insurgency in the North East,” Major Umar said.
