This is a statement from Laolu
Akande,Senior Special Assistant on Media &
Publicity to the President.
Nigeria produces the best in every way, its
citizens continue to shine in various ways
around the world, and as we continue to do
what is right in public service, the country is
bound to reach the top globally as a people,
according to Acting President Yemi
Osinbajo, SAN.
Prof. Osinbajo was speaking at the
Presidential Villa where he received Dr.
Oluyinka Olutoye, Houston, US-based
Nigerian doctor who successfully led a
medical team that operated on a foetus,
winning US and global acclaim for the feat.
In a rare medical feat that drew global
applause, Olutoye brought out a foetus from
a mother-Margaret Boemer’s womb to
remove a tumour from the foetus, and then
restored the unborn baby to the womb
successfully. The mother then continued to
carry the pregnancy to term, and later on,
delivered the baby safely and well. She
named her Lynlee Hope.
Osinbajo told Olutoye who was
accompanied to the Presidential Villa by
members of his family including his wife
and parents that “our country continues to
shine in various ways, your achievement is
remakable in every sense. People are bound
to wonder. It’s the kind that fables are made
of. And this is from someone who is
Nigerian-trained.”
According to the Acting President, “this
country can be well run, we produce the
best in every way, but it will take a lot of
doing, by good men and women. This is
what i have learnt in the past over two years
here. If we do the right things, day by day,
we’ll change and improve the Nigerian
situation significantly.”
He continued, “the problem is not the about
the availability of resources, but its the
management,” recalling how it is that the
Federal Government is now doing more
when funds are scarce than in the days
when oil was selling at over $100 per barrel.
“When we were making over a $100 per
barrel, we were owing oil JVC cash calls, not
able to pay salaries and owing contractors.
Now that we are down in earnings by 60%,
we have sorted out the problem of cash calls
and are able to support states to pay
salaries.”
Speaking earlier, Dr. Olutoye attributed his
medical successes in the US to his Nigerian
training and education up till the university.
He is a graduate of Medicine from the then
University of Ife.
“All we have achieved from primary to
university is from Nigeria, and I believe that
Nigeria will surpass what we have achieved
out there.”
