Governor Agbu Kefas of Taraba State has revealed that patients in government owned-hospitals are buying drugs from nurses' bags.
He said this while bemoaning the collapse of the healthcare system, revealing that some hospitals were so poorly stocked that patients resorted to buying medication from nurses’ private supplies.
“The last time I visited the Specialist Hospital, I confirmed that patients had to buy medicine from nurses’ bags.
“We’ve changed that. Essential drugs are now stocked and provided free,” he said.
The governor also revealed that the state has been operating without a formal developmental master plan since its creation in 1991, a situation he described as a major setback to coordinated progress.
The governor made this disclosure on Thursday during a town hall meeting with key stakeholders from the Northern Zone of the state, held at the Gymnastics Hall of the Jolly Nyame Stadium in Jalingo.
“The only document I found was an incomplete city plan initiated by the late governor Danbaba Suntai.
“I had to engage consultants to develop a comprehensive state-wide master plan, which took us nine months,” Kefas said.
Reflecting on the state of affairs when he took office, governor Kefas said he inherited a deeply divided society fractured along religious and ethnic lines.
He emphasized that restoring unity was his first priority.
“When I came in, we were all divided. It was very difficult to trust each other.
“But with prayers and commitment, we are making progress toward unity,” he recalled.
