President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said Nigerians should not continue going abroad for medical treatment.

“Nigerians have suffered so much going abroad for medical treatment. This is not good for us and it must stop, because we can’t afford it again,” he said.

The President, who himself had travelled to the United Kingdom for treatment on several occasions, stated this at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, during the inauguration and handover of completed projects to the management of the hospital.

He explained that the project was executed to check flooding and gully erosion in the hospital.

The President, represented at the event by the Minister of Science and Technology, Mr Ogbonnaya Onu, lamented the devastating effects of flooding in South-East geo-political zone, saying the intervention project would bring relief to the hospital, the state and its neighbours.

He said the siting of the project in Ebonyi State signalled an end to the era in the country where some parts of the Nigeria were neglected as a result of corruption and favouritism. He stressed that the location of the project in major teaching hospitals across the country showed that no part of the country would be neglected again.

He said, “We have paid very serious attention to the health of our people and will continue to do so. The projects you celebrate their completion today were seriously affecting the workings of this teaching hospital. But today, we can say their completion have started helping to improve on the performance and welfare of both the staff and patients of this hospital.

“I wish to use this medium to congratulate Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, and his team in the Ecological Fund Office; the project contractor, Messrs Amayaro Nigeria Limited, as well as the project consultant, Messrs Kanode and Associates Limited, for their commitment to ensuring timely and speedy completion of the project.”

Punch