Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu and colours of service

In 2019, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu shook hands again with destiny with her appointment as Minister of State, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) where she has slowly but steadily blazed the trail with remarkable achievements.

As a minister of state, Dr Ramatu Tijjani has shown rare promise, indicating penetrating vision and a clear grasp of issues which are enabling her to discharge the various responsibilities of her office, despite the teething challenges.

She is a young woman in a hurry but resolute to write her own history. She bowed to the overpowering zeal to serve humanity. Her strength of character and no nonsense reputation for getting results has made this passionate political Princess of Kogi state to prove that success is no respecter of gender but favours hard work, tenacity and purpose.

On assumption of office, tirelessly, the lady did embark on a fact-finding tour of all the six area councils of the FCT, demonstrating a yearning to find out for herself the true position of things and she did find out that indeed there is work to be done.

In the course of these visits, she came to grip with the stark realities on ground, especially in the areas of abandoned projects, neglect and the inadequacy of funds to fully prosecute many projects designed to serve the people, especially at the grassroots in the various Area Council Areas.

Success is not accidental, neither is it served a la carte; you have to go for it! Either you are a man or woman, young or old, the only thing that separates leaders from others, winners from losers, is their dedication and perseverance in bringing true change into anything they do.

It is in recognition of this reality that she has embarked on a number of initiatives that is helping in boosting the standard of living of the people.

In the health sector, the mother of two sons assured that the Federal Capital Territory Administration would embark on a novel and aggressive pursuit of a paradigm shift of its health care delivery programme.

On primary health care, in an effort to deliver key health interventions and in line with Primary healthcare being one of the presidential deliverables, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, ensures the establishment of a mandatory Universal Community-Based Health Insurance Scheme.

Upon the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the FCT the administration quickly activated appropriate strategies by establishing isolation and treatment centres leading to the opening of the Idu, Asokoro and THISDAY Dome centres, thereby giving the FCT about 1000 bed spaces to cater for COVID-19 patients.

The administration, under her supervision, also embarked on training of health workers to build more capacity, procurement of large consignments of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), surgical face masks, infra-red thermometers, hand sanitizers as well as assorted drugs, ventilators and other medical consumables to all treatment/isolation centres and hospitals.

Tirelessly, she is soldiering on, initiating reforms and fortifying capacity building measures that are already yielding fruits. She represents a new age of politicians who are deploying their technocrat expertise in creating innovative policies and taking the responsibility for effecting change in the society.

On Agriculture, as part of efforts towards achieving Mr. President’s agenda of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty, the FCT Administration inaugurated an aquaculture centre valued for women and youths in Kwali Area Council of the Territory under the supervision of the FCT Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu.

It is pertinent to stress that layouts have been identified for affordable housing provision in all the six (6) Area Councils, development plans have been prepared for the layouts, and prototype designs have been produced for housing types and 3D models have been completed for the Muhammadu Buhari Housing Estate in Karshi, for the FCTA and FCDA staff.

On Tourism, Ramatu had in different fora acknowledged the potential of the tourism sector in the area of job creation and lifting millions out of poverty in line with the presidential deliverables. The tourism sector is one sector that the administration is absolutely interested in investing.

History has a way of throwing up persons with a difference to sharpen its perspective in any given epoch. Politicians are seldom known to think of tomorrow. It is statesmen who do so. She falls in the later grouping.

It appears that even in her stride Dr. Ramatu Aliyu has already commenced efforts to stamp her feet in history as a woman who utilised her office to make a profound difference in the lives of the people, especially rural dwellers.

To underscore her commitment to serving the public good, she recently expressed concern over the alarming rate of urbanisation in the country, a clear indication that she will vigorously pursue a programme of developing the satellite towns in the FCT.

While launching the FCT Health Insurance Scheme recently, she hinted that the initiative would involve increasing access to good quality health services aimed at achieving universal health coverage for all, especially mothers, children and employees of various area councils in the FCT.

Under the scheme, emphasis would shift from a “stand-alone vertical supplemental health services provision to a more integrated approach that is dynamic, encompassing and community-based.”

Indeed, with a new dawn on the horizon, Hajiya Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu may well be an indelible footprint on the sands of time as an irrepressible Amazon of change and an astute administrator. Indeed she is contributing her quota to the development of the FCTA.

Adebayo writes from Abuja