As the battle against COVID-19 rages, the Minister of Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCT), Mr Muhammad Musa Bello, has commended the leadership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for rallying the oil and gas industry to support the nation to defeat the pestilence.
Speaking at the NNPC Towers during a courtesy call on the Group Managing Director on Thursday, the Minister said he was impressed with the quality of interventions coming from the NNPC-led oil and gas industry coalition.
Bello, who also commended the GMD for his sterling performance since assumption of office, said the FCT Administration had been holding discussions with the NNPC Medical team on the possibility of developing a healthcare facility in Abuja for the benefit of all residents and other Nigerians.
He said the visit was in furtherance of the discussions with the NNPC Medical Team and to formally present an offer of a parcel of land to NNPC and its partners to build one of the permanent medical facilities pledged by the NNPC-led Oil and Gas Industry Coalition.
“We have already identified a location, because within the Abuja Master Plan we have a Medical City Development Project which is in Phase 2 of the City on the Southern Sector. We have been able to allocate a suitable piece of land there for the NNPC and its partners. I have no doubt whatsoever, based on your antecedent as an astute corporate manager, that you are the right partner to execute this project”, he said.
The Minister who presented a copy of the site offered for the proposed NNPC Medical facility to the GMD stated: “We acknowledge the efforts of NNPC as a catalyst for development in Abuja and we felt that if an institution like NNPC is willing to set up a medical facility, we should give it maximum support”.
The Minister who also visited the 70-bed NNPC Medical facility in Utako which is being upgraded as part of the corporation’s investment in the healthcare sector in the Federal Capital Territory, expressed satisfaction at the quality of work and assured of its inclusion on the list of hospitals certified to handle COVID-19 patients should the pandemic persist.
The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, in his response said that NNPC, as a responsible and proactive corporate citizen, had initiated the idea of establishing a state-of-the-art medical facility in the nation’s capital city even before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He emphasized that NNPC’s aspiration was to build infrastructure that would outlive the COVID-19 pandemic and capable of bringing real-time value to Nigerians.
He appreciated the Minister for graciously allocating land for the proposed health facility.
