No fewer than 500 persons from Oluyole Local Government have been registered into the Oyo State health insurance scheme.
The beneficiaries, who cut across different age groups, were registered into the premium health insurance by the lawmaker representing Oluyole State Constituency in the House of Assembly, Hon Waheed Akintayo, popularly known as Ilumoka Presenter.
Flagging off the empowerment scheme at Methodist High School, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ibadan, on Monday, Akintayo said he registered his constituents into the insurance scheme as his first empowerment programme because he beilieves health is wealth.
Newspeakonline quoted him as saying that “I have a blueprint when I was campaigning and the first thing on my blueprint is health.
“Why I made my first empowerment programme health empowerment is because of my believe that health is a significant factor in human life.
“Beneficiaries have been carefully selected and they cut across all political parties and wards in Oluyole Local Government. They include community and religious leaders, artisans, workers, students, people living with disabilities, among others,” he said.
Akintayo, who noted that there are many projects in the pipeline for his constituents, urged them to continue to give utmost attention to their health and also continue to support the administration of Governor Seyi Makinde.
Speaking, Executive Secretary, Oyo State Health Insurance Agency (OYSHIA), Dr Sola Akande, said the greatest legacy a person elected into a position can leave behind is to improve the health indices of his/her people.
He credited Akintayo for being the first lawmaker to do something meaningful for his constituency.
“After Governor Makinde, who used his personal money to register 4,500 people into the health insurance scheme, the second person who registered 500 people into health insurance is Hon Akintayo.
“The greatest empowerment you can do for your constituency is health empowerment,” he said.
According to Akande, the beneficiaries can walk into any partner hospital to enjoy a comprehensive medical check up without paying a dime, adding that the beneficiaries will enjoy all the benefits of the premium health insurance for one year.
While flagging off the empowerment programme, the chairman of the event and Chief Executive Officer of Ilaji Hotel and Resort, Engr Dotun Sanusi, lauded Akintayo for the initiative, saying he has started on the right path.
Sanusi enjoined the people of Oluyole Local Government to take advantage of the opportunity the lawmaker is making availabile to them and prayed that God will give Akintayo the grace to continue on the right path.
Also speaking, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman in Oyo State, Elder Dayo Ogungbenro, urged the people to embrace the health insurance Akintayo is making available for free.
His words: “If we take care of our health the way we take care of our personal belongings, maybe we will be having a long life. It is now clear that we need to take care of our health than our belongings.”
Ogungbenro urged the people to continue to support and cooperate with those elected into positions in order to contintue to enjoy the dividends of democracy under Omituntun 2.0 of Governor Seyi Makinde.
Other speakers at the event hailed Akintayo for empowering his constituents and for prioritising their health.
Dignitaries at the event inlcude PDP Chairman in Oyo State, Elder Dayo Ogungbenro; PDP State Secretary, Alh Wasiu Adeleke; PDP Senatorial Chairman (Oyo Central), Alh Mufutau Ogunremi; PDP Assitant State Organising Secretary, Pastor Biodun Ibitola and PDP State Youth Leader and Acting State Public Relations Officer (PRO), Michael Ogunsina.
Others include Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ilaji Hotel and Resort, Engr Dotun Sanusi; Chairman, Oluyole Local Government, Hon Olaide Popoola; PDP Chairman in Oluyole Local Government, Alh Mukaila Adegbola; PDP Leader in Oluyole Local Government, Prince Olasunkanmi Salami and former PDP State PRO, Engr Akeem Olatunji.
