Governor Babajide Sanwoolu of Lagos State, on Tuesday, said the government is planning to establish a medical university before the end of 2024.
He dropped the information on Tuesday during the inauguration of the Femi Gbajabiamila General Hospital in the Surulere area of Lagos State.
According to Sanwo-Olu, the establishment of the tertiary institution will not only address the brain drain syndrome but will boost the health sector in the state.
He said: “This is an opportunity to announce another bold initiative that we will be pursuing this year.
“This is strategic for us. This is a strategic intervention for us. Why are we setting up a health or a medical university? It is to solve two problems.
“We found out that working with the Federal Ministry of Health, we need to scale up very aggressively all of our training and all of the youths to be trained in everything within our health space.
“We cannot sit back and fold our arms as a government that cannot intervene. And, so we will, as a state, hope that other states will take this initiative and set up similar universities to be able to scale up and have between 1,000 and 1,500 doctors graduating yearly.
“And this will also stem, in our view, the trend of medical personnel leaving our country.
“We are not going to stop at ensuring that we provide the best facilities to be able to retain our best talents here.”
The governor commended Gbajabiamila for facilitating and handing over the secondary health facility to the state government, saying the hospital would improve access to healthcare.
At the inauguration, Gbajabiamila said the hospital was one of the many projects he had facilitated in Surulere and other parts of the state.
“The Femi Gbajabiamila General Hospital was conceived from the knowledge that a populous and growing metropolis such as Lagos cannot afford to be found wanting as far as access to quality health care is concerned.
‘This structure is an addition to the support the tremendous work the Lagos State Government is doing in the area of healthcare,” he said.
He said the facility, which was formerly a Primary Health Centre, was equipped with a dialysis centre, CT scan, alternative power and many more for the benefit of the people of Surulere.
He thanked the people of Surulere for their consistent support, promising to continue to do his best to impact lives in the area.
“I thank you for the support you have given me for over 25 years. I do not take it for granted and I will continue to do my best to impact lives,” he said.
Dr Tunji Alausa, Minister of State for Health, thanked Gbajabiamila for delivering the project.
He said he did not doubt that the facility would bring healthcare closer to the people.
Sen. Wasiu Eshinlokun (APC-Lagos Central), also thanked the Chief of Staff for facilitating the project.
He said he was not surprised at the scale of the project as the Chief of Staff had executed several other ambitious projects for the benefit of the people of Surulere.
Sanwo-Olu also inaugurated the Sam Shonibare Community Development Centre, Dualised Babs Animashaun Road and the Census Bridge, all facilitated by Gbajabiamila.