The Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (AGPMPN) has given special recognitions to notable organisations and individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the development of the healthcare sector in the country.

In an elaborate and well-attended programme it recently organised in Abuja as part of its centenary celebrations, AGPMPN singled out organisations and individuals who through their philanthropic activities have done quite a lot in saving lives and bringing succor to the less privileged in the society.

Leading the pack were the North East Development Commission (NEDC) under the leadership of Alhaji Mohammed G. Alkali, who is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Commission; BUA Foundation led by Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu, Chairman of the BUA Group of Companies; and Chief Kessington Adebutu, Chairman of Premier Lotto Limited and Founder of Kessington Adebukunola Adebutu Foundation (KAAF).

NEDC, which was recognised within the corporate category, was singled out for the critical interventions it has made within the health sector in the North East which has been ravaged by insurgency. The Commission has been involved in the delivery of emergency free medical services to the people in its area of jurisdiction who have been displaced from their homes.

NEDC has, in the discharge of its mandate, built two advanced health facilities in Maiduguri, namely a 20-bed facility within the Muhammad Goni Stadium IDP Camp and a 30-bed facility within the Muna Gararge IDP Camp. Each of these facilities is fully equipped and utilized as screening /isolation centres.

Under the management of Alhaji Alkali, NEDC has provided free surgery for over 100 women suffering from Vesicovaginal Fistula (VVF), in Borno State. The Commission also comprehensively equipped a Molecular Laboratory in Bauchi, which has been certified by the NCDC and is used for screening and testing of Covid-19, Lassa fever and other viral diseases.

BUA Foundation, on its own part, was singled out for the unrivalled contributions in the fight against Covid-19. At the height of the pandemic in 2020, BUA Foundation, under Alhaji Rabiu, donated N1 billion for the fight against the scourge by the Federal Government.

The Foundation also made additional donation of N300 Million to Sokoto, Edo and Ogun states to assist in galvanizing a coordinated response and adequate preparedness in the fight against the pandemic in the States. Only recently, Chairman of BUA Group, Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu, donated N5 Billion grant to support health and social development in Akwa Ibom State.

AGPMPN, which is an umbrella body of Nigerian medical doctors who are into private practice, also noted that through the BUA Group, the BUA Cement Company donated a school, hospital and other infrastrucrures worth N230 Million to two relocated communities, Gidan Bailu and Gidan Datti in Wamakko Local Government Council of Sokoto State.

Chief Kessington Adebutu, popularly known as Baba Ijebu, was recognized in the individual achiever/philanthropy category. It was acknowledged that that Adebutu, through his Foundation, has been engaged in a series of free medical activities to the less privileged. He built and donated a Science Laboratory Complex to both Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta and Tai Solarin University of Education, Omu.

He also donated a high tech Maternity and Child Care Centre to the University of Lagos, as well donated a Geriatric Rehabilitation Centre at the University of Ibadan College Hospital. He similarly donated an Emergency and Trauma Centre at Olabisi Onabanjo University College of Medicine, Ikenne.

Other individuals and organizations that were also honoured included Senator George Akume, the current Minister of Inter-Governmental Affairs; Governor Kayode Fayemi, Chairman of Nigerian Governors` Forum; Institute of Human Virology; and Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria.