A veteran medical practitioner representing the South -South at the ongoing National confab, Dr Ntufam Josephat Okey, has advocated at least 50 percent revenue allocation to the people of his geopolitical zone saying that despite the huge mineral resources from the zone, it is the most impoverished.
Okey stated that one of the contentious issues to be deliberated at the National Confab would be the ceding of Bakassi Peninsula to the Republic of Cameroun without any form of compensation noting that it has not gone down well with the country especially the people of cross River state since the act was committed.
He noted that the ceding of the peninsula has left Cross River state more impoverished than before adding that the state has been exploited by the federal government through siphoning of its granite used to construct roads in all nooks and crannies of the country without paying attention to the state.
He said heavy trucks used to carry the granites have destroyed the roads while the federal government watched with hands akimbo with no economic benefit accruing to the state.
The delegate said the forest reserves and cocoa go to the federal government.
On healthcare system in Nigeria, he described it as endemically sick with very little done to remedy the situation.
He said the trend of frequent strikes in Nigeria and lack of adequate infrastructure in the hospitals has not helped matters blaming the management of the hospitals for the decay in the teaching hospitals.
As a result, he said the doctors are not committed to their jobs as they go in search of other jobs in private clinics while still maintaining a lackadaisical attitude in the public hospitals.
He envisaged that the conference would be rowdy at a stage as some delegates would be itching to score their point.
