Jonathan, alongside Vice President Namadi Sambo and members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), took a break from the regular weekly meeting to enable the president to carry out a comprehensive check-up, conducted aboard a mobile clinic vehicle brought to the Presidential Villa.
The check-ups, carried out by a team of medical personnel from the National Hospital, Abuja, was followed by those of the vice president and other members of FEC, who had been directed to make themselves available.
Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, while briefing State House correspondents after the FEC meeting, said while it would normally cost the sum of N50,000 to carry out the check-up, the president had decided that the government would subsidise it for indigent Nigerians, to ensure that they did not pay more then N10,000.
He said the president was concerned about the spate of sudden deaths in the country and "he had long felt that something needed to be done on a national scale." According to him, "today, he and the vice president demonstrated leadership by example. They had various tests performed on them and all members of the FEC will do it."
The minister said President Jonathan had directed that all ministers should engage in regular exercises, while the rest of Nigerians must begin to go for regular medical check-up for healthy living.
The post-FEC briefing was coordinated by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, who was joined by Mrs Diezani Allison-Maduekwe, Tukur Idris, Olusegun Aganga, Yerima Ngama, among others.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister ofTrade and Investment, Dr Aganga, said the Federal Government had received a lot of interest from automobile manufacturers, following the recent policy to gradually phase out the importation of used vehicles from the country.
He said president of Nissan Motor Corporation had called President Jonathan to intimate him of his company's desire to participate in the integrated development of the automobile sector of the country.
In his remarks, Minister of Transport, Umar, revealed that FEC approved the contract worth $3.5 million for the construction of buoys in the nation's ports, so as to guide ships.
This was in addition to N900 million augmentation for N7.9 billion land reclamation contract, which the minister said was necessitated by additional works in the contract.
Minister of Petroleum, Allison-Maduekwe, spoke of plans to get together all foreign investors in Nigeria, so as to articulate where exactly they could key into the transformation agenda of the government. Meanwhile, the Federal Government has expressed dissatisfaction to the government of Guinea Bissau over the recent attack on Nigerian Embassy in the country and the death of a Nigerian citizen, saying that it would investigate the attack which took place last Tuesday.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep staying Healthy, Informed and Entertained...
Your comments/views will be appreciated.... Thanks