Dikko Abdullahi, comptroller general, bows out of the Nigerian Customs Service in style on Tuesday with the inauguration of a three-storey state-of-the-art hospital facility in Karu, near Abuja.
The edifice is one of the lasting legacies he left behind in Customs where he worked for 27 years
Dikko Abdullahi exit after six years in the saddle as comptroller general of Nigeria Customs Service, left a legacy for the people of Karu, a densely populated, but largely underdeveloped part of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
As a fitting climax to his 27-year career at the Customs, Dikko Abdullahi on his last day in office, Tuesday, August 18,unveiled a three-story imposing hospital build by the Nigeria Customs Service to improve the welfare of its staff and Nigerians living around the area.
Nasir El-Rufai, Kaduna State governor, lauded the management skill of Abdullahi, especially his commitment to the welfare of staff and expressed mixed feelings on his retirement and described him as “a fine public servant.”
el-Rufai described the new Customs Hospital as the most equipped medical facility in the country, stating that the best way to put the hospital to use was to affiliate it with a university and make it a teaching hospital.
El-Rufai said “for this kind of hospital to be a reality, it can only take a good leadership that has focus and commitment.
“Looking at this facility I was taken aback by the size and level of equipment, and the organisation of the facilities, it is an impressive teaching hospital.
“It is the most well equipped hospital I have seen in Nigeria and it is as equipped as any hospital I have seen in the world and I think the Nigeria Customs Service should be commended with this effort.
“It is not the money because there are many organisations in Nigeria that have the money to do this but they lack the leadership, the focus and the commitment,” said el-Rufai.
The governor added that to achieve such a huge success was all about focus and determination.
The out-going Custom’s boss described the new edifice as a consolidation of his welfare programme through the delivery of quality health care services to officers and their families.
“This complex will not only cater for the need of Customs officers and their families, the entire Karu community will benefit from its services and reach.
“From the level of sophistication of our equipment and the quality of our personnel, this facility will also serve as a reference hospital for the entire FCT community,” Abdullahi said.
The Medical Director of the hospital, Karu, Dr David Nandap, said that the facility has 80-bed capacity to serve the health needs of its personnel and the community.
“The Comptroller General has a vision to build it to a world class structure that will meet the healthcare of the service because he believes only healthy and fit officers and men can drive the vision of Nigeria Customs.
“The hospital has practically everything that any hospital, including tertiary care hospital, may wish to have in terms of scope of facilities and services.
“The hospital has a comprehensive diagnosis facilities, radiology, chemical laboratory endoscope, Scanner and laparoscope.
“And well equipped modern external and emergency that will provide immediate care, basic emergency and critical care, including intensive care for the hospital,” Nandap said.
He said the hospital was equipped with two standard modular operating theatres for multi-specialty surgeries and additional day care theatre, intensive care unit and modern central sterilisation supply department.
He said the theatres and the ICU would be provided with central medical gas and vacuum systems while the clinical laboratory was capable of carrying out comprehensive range of laboratory investigations
The medical director said that the radiology and imaging department was equipped with high resolution and permanent magnet MRI machine.
Nandap said that the hospital had maternal and child health, infant care equipment, intercom service, fire alarm, close circuit television system and a modern mortuary, among others.
It should be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had accepted Abdullahi’s voluntary resignation as comptroller-general of the Nigeria Customs Service with effect from Tuesday, August 18.
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