Abuja, Nigeria; 30 July 2015: Director General of the ICRC, Mr. Aminu Diko, has expressed the readiness of the Commission to cooperate with other agencies of government and the private sector towards the provision of basic infrastructure services through PPP. He expressed this position while playing host to the Executive Director/CEO and members of the management team of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), who paid him a courtesy visit, Thursday.

While welcoming his guests, he explained that the role of the ICRC is principally to regulate the procurement of infrastructure services through Public Private Partnership. According to him, the private sector has been more actively involved in the provision of medical services in recent years, citing the successful concession arrangement between the Federal Capital Territory Administration and Garki General Hospital.

He however admonished his guests to be painstaking in following through all necessary steps for a successful PPP. In his words, ‘patience is required to develop projects through the stages of PPP. Patience is also required to access private sector funds’. He proposed the setting up of a joint team to explore areas of possible cooperation.

Speaking earlier, the Executive Director, CEO of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Ado Mohammad, listed the mandate of the agency to include the provision and regulation of primary healthcare centres across the country. According to him, the agency also partners states and Local Government Councils in providing basic health services through advocacy at the grassroot level. He disclosed that the NPHCDA had set up a PPP unit within the agency and solicited the support of the ICRC in the area of expertise and capacity building for the unit. According to him, among the recent milestones achieved by his agency is the successful handling of the ebola issue, and the remarkable feat of achieving a full year without a recorded case of polio in the country. He disclosed further, that NPHCDA under his watch, successfully set up the Nigerian Private Sector Health Alliance, a private sector led initiative, headed by Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

While soliciting the cooperation of the ICRC in getting the private sector to invest in the provision of mobile clinics and primary healthcare centres, he disclosed that there are currently about 400 functional healthcare centres across the country that would benefit from private sector intervention in the provision and operation of the facilities.