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Dr Betta Edu ‘s Financial Dealings, Where It All Started.

By Duke Imandu
When I first saw the accusations and counter-accusations against Dr. Betta Edu, the Honourable Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, the first thing that came to my mind was to look into her trajectory down to her pre-ministerial position era. I will briefly tell you what I found out.
But before that, let me clear the table for this public discussion by reiterating in clear terms that Dr. Betta Edu is not being accused of squandering, stealing or “eating” public funds, rather, the whole outcry is that she approved the sending of the project money meant for the vulnerable Nigerians in Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Ogun and Lagos States to a private account which has since been found out to belong to the project’s accountant. That option became necessary being that the grant project was to be cash-in-hand since most of the beneficiaries are unbanked.
Looking at the track record of Dr. Edu, the smearing storyline of misappropriation is neither here nor there. As a medical doctor who would rather prefer rendering humanitarian services with her personal resources and professional skills, she would do more with public funds.
As a missionary, her father didn’t only instil discipline but the life of a humanitarian to the young Betta. With diligence and honesty, she grew to enviable ranks both in her medical profession and politics. In 2013, as the Medical Officer of Health in her state, Cross River, she was put in charge of the Staff Clinic. She achieved so much including reorganising and strengthening health policies within the Primary Health Care Department in 2014.
In 2018, she emerged as the Vice Chairman of the Forum of all CEOs of Primary Health Care Agencies and Boards in Nigeria. While she held sway, Dr. Edu reformed national policy decisions for Primary Health Care development in Nigeria and collaborated with the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency to ensure full implementation of the Primary Health Care Under One Roof policy in all 36 states and FCT in Nigeria. She advocated regularly to the President, National Assembly and key stakeholders to influence the institutionalisation and full implementation of key health policies, particularly the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).
In 2015, she became the Special Adviser on Community Health to the Executive Governor of Cross River State, Prof. Ben Ayade. In this, she made so many landmark achievements including facilitating partnerships locally and internationally. In 2016, she became the first Director General of Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (CRSPHCDA) and up until 2019, she facilitated the creation of Cross River State Primary Health Care Development Agency and the enactment of the Agency’s establishment Law, the creation of Cross River State Health Insurance Scheme and the enactment of the Agency’s establishment Act, Produced the first ever Minimum Service Package for health care in the State, Revitalised over 200 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) in line with the PHC Revitalisation policy of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, Constructed 60 New PHCs to promote equitable access to primary care in unreached/underserved communities.
Then, in 2019, she became the Commissioner for Health, Cross River State which she held till March 2022. She established partnerships with local and international development partners and mobilised over 10 million USD into the state health system to support strategic investments in Resilient Systems for Sustainable Health (RSSH) and quality healthcare service coverage.
When the daredevil COVID-19 surfaced, Dr. Edu was appointed as the Chairman of the Cross River State COVID-19 Response Taskforce and with her leadership and core technical skills successfully coordinated the Cross River State COVID-19 Response, established and coordinated the Emergency Operations Centre for COVID-19 in the state and implemented the Incident Action Plan for Cross River State.
In March 2022, she emerged as the National Women Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) where she oversaw numerous empowerment and humanitarian outreaches to millions of APC women and non-party women as well. Her ingenuity resulted in the mobilisation of over 20 million Nigerian women in support of President Tinubu’s election bids.
Within the few months she had served as the Honourable Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu had transversed the nooks and crannies of Nigeria delivering humanitarian materials to the vulnerable people of the country. We saw her move to the creeks that even security agents detest. Her passion and dedication to her duty was contagious, to say the least
In all these, she was not caught in the web of any financial mismanagement or misappropriation. Instead, she earned herself numerous awards within and outside the shores of Nigeria; over 600 awards from reputable organisations.
I will wrap this up with an analogy of what my late mother used to say whenever she prayed. In Igbo language, she would say, “anyị bụ azụ anyị agaghi agọ agọ mmiri.” Literally translated, it is “We are fishes we can’t deny water.” She used this whenever she wanted to ask for forgiveness of sin, meaning that “we have the nature of sin and we can’t deny having any sin in us.” Humanitarian work is in the nature of Dr. Betta Edu, she can’t deny it. A friend once told me that Betta’s zeal for this work would get her into trouble one day. If my friend was to be a prophet, his church would be flooded by now. Those who are very zealous and committed to their jobs do have lots of traps. Sometimes it’s either they unintentionally get themselves into trouble or others around who are envious of them would fabricate problems just to get them out of the way. In this Betta Edu’s scenario, the latter is the case.
I will employ the president, His Excellency, Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu to tamper justice with mercy. Dr. Edu’s zealousness, dedication to her duties and achievements in this short period supersede her errors, if any.
BETTA EDU CAN BE TRUSTED.
News
JUST IN: FG to seize retirees’ property over unpaid housing loans

The Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board says it has begun the compilation of list of retired civil servants who have defaulted on the full repayment of housing loans obtained.
Head of Information and Public Relations, FGSHLB, Mrs Ngozi Obiechina, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.
Obiechina quoted the Executive Secretary of the Board, Mrs Salamatu Ahmed, as saying that the move was aimed at recovering mortgaged properties from retirees who failed to meet their loan obligations.
Ahmed noted that the decision followed a recent memo issued by Mrs Patience Oyekunle, Permanent Secretary, Career Management Office, Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
According to her the memo reminded public servants of the mandatory requirement to obtain a Certificate of Non-Indebtedness to the FGSHLB and MDA Staff Multipurpose Cooperative Society as a precondition for retirement.
The executive secretary said that the board would take necessary legal steps to repossess properties where applicable, in line with the terms of the loan agreements.
She said this was in line with the provisions of the Public Service Rules 021002 (p), issued by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
”I am directed to bring to your attention the provision of Public Service Rule (PSR) 021002 (p), which mandates all public servants to obtain a Certificate of Non-Indebtedness as a prerequisite for retirement.”
“The Federal Government will commence the seizure of mortgaged properties belonging to retiring federal public servants who have failed to fully repay housing loans obtained from the board,” she said.
Ahmed explained that the FGSHLB reserves the legal right to repossess any mortgaged property in cases where a public servant exits service without fully repaying the loan.
She reiterated that the directive also applied to already retired officers who were still indebted.
She urged all affected public servants to regularise their loan status and obtain the required clearance certificate without delay.
“The board is currently compiling a list of such retirees, which will be forwarded to relevant regulatory agencies for debt recovery.
“The FGSHLB remains committed to enforcing compliance and ensuring proper loan recovery procedures are followed, ” she added.
NAN
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Killings: Enough is enough – Tinubu issues marching order to NSA, Service Chiefs

President Bola Tinubu has issued marching order to security agencies to tackle insecurity within the country.
Tinubu, while ordering a complete overhaul of Nigeria’s security strategy, said “enough is enough.
”He issued the directive during a meeting with security chiefs on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja and was contained in a statement signed by his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga.
There have been killings in Borno, Benue, Plateau and Kwara states.
However, the statement said the National Security Adviser, NSA, Nuhu Ribadu while addressing State House Correspondents after the meeting, said Tinubu directed a new approach to tackling insecurity across the country.
Ribadu said, “Mr President gave us the chance to come and brief him again. It lasted very long. We gave him an update on what was going on.
”He explained that while the President was on official visits to Paris and London, he remained actively involved and continued to issue instructions to security agencies.
“Today, we had the opportunity to come and brief him again, and it lasted hours. It was a very detailed briefing, and it was exhaustive.
“The issue of insecurity often is not just at the higher levels. It involves the subunits.
They are the ones who are directly with the people, especially when some of the challenges border on community problems.
“We need to work with the communities. We need to work with the local governments, and we need to work with the governors.
“The President directed that we work more with governors,” he said.
Ribadu noted that the President was “very worried and concerned” at the meeting.
“He said, ‘Enough is enough’. We are working to ensure that we restore peace and security.”
“We were all at the meeting with the President, armed forces, police, and intelligence community,” Ribadu added.
News
More tthan 20,000 people gather at the Vatican to Mourn Pope Francis

More than 20,000 people have gathered at the Vatican as mourners file past Pope Francis’s open coffin.
Pope Francis’s body has been moved from his residence in the Vatican to lie in state at St Peter’s Basilica.
Mourners are now filing past the coffin, which will stay in front of the Papal Altar during the three days of public mourning.
The Pope died on Monday morning – his funeral will take place on Saturday, attended by leaders from around the world.
Source : BBC
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