The bill to establish Contributory Health Insurance Commission, a product of Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa may suffer major setback as medical practitioners in the state have foreseen failure of the scheme and hence, voiced their opinions against the importation of the scheme into the state.

Besides medical practitioners, labour leaders have also expressed fears over the workability of the programme citing the varied challenges encountered in accessing the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and other programmes which were conceived by governments both at the federal and state levels but failed to achieve their goals and left many Nigerians in despair.

In a public hearing organised by the State House of Assembly to get views of Deltans, especially medical practitioners of all fields, the views of a section of participants dampened the expectation of the House Committee on Health which was saddled with the responsibility of assessing the public views and incorporate same into the bill before passage into law.

Chairman of National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, Delta State Chapter, Comrade Ejiro Egbede, expressed utmost fear in the scheme, considering the massive failure of the Housing Scheme and the Contributory Pension Scheme which have remained a nightmare to both serving and retired civil servants in the country.

Represented by Comrade Alice Jegede, the nurses said the hospitals in the state lacked facilities to attend to the upsurge of patients, noting that the intention of the state government should be looked into before rushing into passing the bill into law.

According to her, “as nurses, majority wins the vote, so if others say they want it, I think the nurses have to key in. But we still have our fears and reservations because we don’t want anything to be imposed on us. We want it to be optional or when it’s not working, we can be allowed to pull out as a body.

“You know sometimes when men are looking at certain things in one way, the women look at it carefully. That’s why our presentation was different from others. Because most of the things they put up do not work. But when everybody says they want it, there is nothing we can do about it.

“The hospitals are not prepared for the programme. That’s why we said the hospitals are not ready for it. The manpower is not there because when they put up this scheme, there will be influx of patients into the hospitals, we are the nurses that will care for those patients. We are not prepared at all. We are not ready at all for this programme”.

Also, Delta State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade David Ofoeyeno, was also very pessimistic in his presentation, citing also the failure of the National Housing Scheme and other anomalies in government’s programmes.

Represented by Tony Toki, the labour leader said “my experience from the past was what informed may presentation inside the hall. Because when the law is passed, it becomes the law that will govern all of us and it may put us in a very tight corner.

“Once a law is passed, it becomes mandatory that we follow the law. And by the time you are not comfortable with the system, for you to come out, it becomes difficult because the law is binding. Till tomorrow, we are not enjoying the National Housing Fund. But for us to pull out of it is very difficult because of the law. So, it is better looked into critically before passing it to law”.

However, Ofoeyeno said the scheme would be beneficial to Deltans if it is implemented as conceived by the governor who was chairman of the Health Committee during his days as Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

But Chairman of the State House Committee on Health, Hon. Alphonsus Ojo, dismissed the fears expressed by Deltans, saying the Housing Scheme failed because it is long term arrangement, stressing that the Delta Insurance Health Scheme was a programme of immediate benefit, assuring that the state governor has good intention for all Deltans in the bill.

•Photo shows Gov. Okowa

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