The North-West Development Commission is partnering Dala Orthopaedic Hospital Kano, to explore ways of making quality healthcare more affordable to patients in the country.
This was disclosed by the Managing Director (MD) of the Commission, Professor Shehu Abdullahi Ma’aji recently in Kano when he hosted the Chief Medical Director of the Dala Orthopaedic Hospital, Dr. Isa Nurudeen.
Professor Abdullahi maintained that, as an intervention agency, the Commission would carry out a needs assessment of the operational requirements of the hospital, most especially on the energy component, required to power the hospital’s sophisticated equipment, based on which the Commission would come up with a partnership framework that would support in minimising the running and maintenance cost burden on the hospital.
He expressed the hope that, by the time the Commission wades in and subsidise the operational cost, the gesture would automatically translates into reduction of service charge on respective patients.
Professor Abdullahi explained the Commission’s readiness to extend similar gesture to Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Shika, Zaria; and Danfodio University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto.
He observed that all the three hospitals situated within the North-West region of the country “offer their services to generality of mankind” and as such, should be supported in whichever way possible to enhance the quality of their service delivery system; and to as well make the services more accessible and affordable.
Professor Abdullahi added that training of technical personnel on equipment operation and maintenance would be another component of the partnership between the two organisations. This is to ensure that operation and maintenance challenges are immediately tackled without waiting for the manufacturers to intervene.
He expressed the believe that by the time these healthcare facilities function optimally, it would reduce the frequency of Nigerians travelling overseas on medical tourism and would in turn boost Nigerian economy.
Earlier in his submission, the Chief Medical Director of Dala Orthopaedic Hospital, Dr. Isa Nurudeen explained that the purpose of the visit was to solicit the support and assistance of the Commission to tackle some of the operational challenges facing the hospital.
He specifically emphasised on the energy needs to power their equipment, most especially the new sophisticated MRI machine recently donated by the NNPCL.
He explained that for the machine to operate optimally, it needed to run 24 hours continuously on electricity which is costly and beyond what the hospital management could afford considering the high cost of electricity from the national grid and the prohibitive cost of diesel in the country.
He then appealed to the Commission to come in and assist in providing a sustainable alternative source of energy to power the equipment.
The North-West Development Commission was established in 2024 by Mr. President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to among others, accelerate infrastructure development and address long standing developmental gaps across the region.
It’s core mandate areas include security, agriculture, health, education, environment, women and youth development.
Signed:
Abdulrashid Y. Safana
Head, Press and Public Relations.
30/7/2026.
