Babafemi Ojudu, veteran journalist and Senator representing Ekiti Central in the National Assembly, recently granted News Express an interview in which he answered questions on the free mobile health clinic which he is about to launch for his people, including on the funding. Excerpts.

News Express: What motivated you to embark on this project?
Senator Ojudu: It is one of my campaign promises. I realized that there are so many villages and hamlets in my constituency where there are shortages of medical facilities, particularly in the diagnostic area. A little help from me could help safe one or two lives. I also run a Centre for women in memory of my mum and one of the objectives of this center is to offer assistance in the area of children and women health.

News Express: What specific areas of Ekiti will the mobile clinic cover and what is the programme or schedule like? How will people in a particular area know when to expect it?
Senator Ojudu: It will cover villages and hamlets in my Ekiti Central Senatorial District. I am still working with experts in this area to work out the schedule. I will make this available when we are through with the planning that we doing now.

News Express: What is the staffing of the clinic like and what will be the days and hours of operation?
Senator Ojudu: We are going to depend more on volunteers. I have many friends and mentees in the health sector both within and outside Nigeria who have indicated their interest in helping to make sure the project is a success. As I said earlier, we are still working on the details such as staffing, schedules and the consumables. We are open to suggestions in these areas from those who are knowledgeable and experienced in rural medicare.

News Express: What range of ailments would be attended to by the clinic and at what cost? What of in cases beyond the clinic?
Senator Ojudu: Some important goals we aiming to achieve are:
Better blood sugar control
Better blood pressure control
Decreased anxiety and depression
EKG machine will be available for checking of heart electrical activity.
Emphasis on routine screening for early diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma to prevent blindness because glaucoma is a major contributor to blindness in the rural areas
Diagnosis and treatment of malaria, typhoid, and water borne diseases common in rural areas
Diagnosis and treatment of arthritis
Pregnancy and ante natal care, etc

News Express: What is the cost of this project and how is it funded?
Senator Ojudu: It is not as huge as people think particularly if you have a lot of people who believe in you and what you are doing. It will be funded and managed by Raliat Ojudu Women Development Centre (ROWDEC), an NGO founded by me in memory of my late mother. Along the line in the course of my career I have met a lot of people who believe in me and are ready to be committed to whatever I am committed to. For example, the acquisition of the mobile clinic was facilitated by a young friend of mine based in California, USA. An ICT expert, he has been very supportive on this project. Many others are offering to do one thing or the other. The aggregation of their assistance will see to the funding and sustainable of the project.

News Express: Bolaji Adebiyi, SA Media to President Jonathan, raised a question: "Where do our legislators get the funds with which they provide these largely executive functions?" What's your response?
Senator Ojudu: I don’t want to join issues with Bolaji. I am a doer and he is a critic. I will continue to do and he will continue to criticize. If what we are doing makes both of us happy, fine. I will just like to say that we all cannot fold our hands in resignation when there are problems to be solved. We have to be creative about it. If I take a little from what I earn and seek the assistance of others there will be enough available to give back to our people. My mother in the midst of nothing sacrificed to see six children out of university. That is sacrifice.
We wish the many governments in which Bolaji has served and still serving has cared about the people, things won't be this bad to require our intervention.

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