Bauchi might have become the 1st State in Nigeria to fulfill the 2001 Abuja Declaration to which heads of African governments agreed to allocate 15% of their total budget to the health sector (President Muhammadu Buhari in his 2016 budget proposal allocated just 3.65%).MamaYe Nigeria Coordinator in Bauchi State, Ahmed M. Ahmed, broke the news on Wednesday, January 6, 2016, in an email to the MamaYe team:The success came on the heels of the long awaited advocacy visit to the Chairman, Health and Human Services Committee of the Bauchi State House of Assembly on 15% budget increase for the health sector in 2016, which took place on Tuesday, January 5, 2016.BaSAM members during their visit to the CommitteeThe Bauchi State Accountability Mechanism for MNCH (BaSAM), that put pressure on the State government to allocate 15% of the State’s budget to the health sector, presented these talking points:With much interest and readiness to listen to the voice of the group and the citizens of the State, Secretary of the Committee (who sat in for the Committee’s Chairman), stated that all of the committee members, except one, were in the health sector and have worked there before joining politics, thus, they have already positioned themselves adequately to address the issues of the sector.He then allayed the fears of BaSAM on previous poor budget releases by affirming that the present committee was well informed about the bureaucracy in the system and was well positioned to address it. He also called on the group to support the committee through continuous engagement and provision of valid information on how to make the budget processes efficient and effective.It is now left for the State’s lawmakers to approve the governor’s budget proposal. But it is also left for BaSAM not to relent in its efforts until the 15% allocation to the health sector becomes a reality, and its implementation is monitored.
This is a great feat in the history of Nigeria, when a public office holder, a governor in this case, listens to the voices of civil society organisations and the media to give to the citizens what would make their lives better. It is all about political will. It may also be all about the much touted 'change' mantra.