Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I. Jibrin, on Sunday, hailed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s investment in health infrastructure targeted at providing a sound healthcare delivery system in Kano.

Senator Barau gave the commendation while inspecting seven mega projects he initiated at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Kano, on Sunday.

Barau said he initiated the seven projects in line with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda on healthcare delivery, adding that the intervention would soon reverse health tourism.

The senator representing Kano North stated that the mega projects, when completed, would attract more human capital development and discourage the mass exodus of medical practitioners abroad.

Barau reaffirmed the National Assembly’s unwavering determination to enact necessary legislation to support the executive in addressing challenges in the health sector and other areas.

“What we are doing now, in terms of trying to further develop and make this institution an advanced, specialised hospital, is in tune with the desire of the President. The President, when I met him, said one of his cardinal programmes is to ensure a sound healthcare delivery system at a specialised level.

“What we are witnessing now, in terms of medical tourism, will soon stop with the necessary investment in our health sector. We have the human resources and the expertise to transform our capabilities into hospitals where you don’t need to travel to Egypt or India to seek medical treatment. And from what this institution is doing, I’m sure that trend will soon be a thing of the past,” he said.

“We are all members of the family of Mr President. We are working based on his teachings and commitment to address the challenges facing our country. And what you have seen now is the tip of the iceberg. We shall continue to develop the hospital until it becomes the best in West Africa, not even in Nigeria,” he added.

Earlier, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital, Prof. Abdurrahman Abba Sheshe, commended the Deputy President of the Senate for ensuring that AKTH remains the best teaching hospital in the country.

He said the intervention would continue to strengthen medical research and training, as well as widen innovation in new areas of medicine.

In his remarks, the Vice Chancellor of Bayero University Kano (BUK), Professor Haruna Musa, expressed the institution’s profound appreciation to the Deputy President of the Senate, saying, “In just two months into my tenure in BUK, Senator Barau has brought two mega projects to BUK.”

The seven projects include the construction and equipping of a cardiothoracic centre; construction of roads at the College of Health Sciences, BUK (AKTH premises); construction of a students’ hostel at the College of Nursing Sciences; interlocking of the Department of Radiology; interlocking of the S. S. Wali Centre; interlocking of the Speciality Clinic Annexe; construction of classrooms and offices at the School of Health Information Management (SHIM); and construction and equipping of a paediatric complex.

Senator Barau was accompanied to AKTH by four senators, including the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Senator Abdulrahman Kawu Sumaila; Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND, Senator Muntari Dandutse; Chairman of the Senate Committee on North West Development Commission, Senator Babangida Hussaini; and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Abdulhamid Malam-Madori.