October 28, 2019
By Hassan Gbassay Koroma
Group photo with the High table and the TAC members
The Nigerian High Commission in Sierra Leone last Thursday handed over to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation the second batch of eight Technical Aid Corps (TAC), medical practitioners to work in medical facilities across the country.
In July this year, the High Commission handed over the first batch of seventeen of Technical Aid Corps (TAC) to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, who are currently deployed in various health centres in the provinces across the country.
The TAC programme is a technical cooperation between Nigeria and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) nations. It acts as a channel through which South-South collaboration is enhanced through streamlined programme of assistance to other developing countries.
Since the establishment of the bilateral relationship between Nigerian and Sierra Leone, the Federal Government has deployed more than five hundred (500) Technical Aid Corps (TAC) volunteers in Sierra Leone.
Speaking at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Aberdeen in Freetown, Programme Manager Strengthen Health in Sierra Leone, Denis Mark, said the Sierra Leone Government requested for TAC assistance because the group who worked in the country proved to be one of the best medical practitioners.
Nigeria High Commissioner to Sierra Leone , Dr. Habiss Ibrahim Ugbada,said the coming of the second batch of TAC members was just a repeat of what had happened, noting that it was going to happen again and again.
He disclosed that the Government of Sierra Leone had requested for about 84 TAC members to come and work in the country, noting that he has discussed it with the minister of health and that they would work hard to see that number is met by 2021.
He said Nigeria and Sierra Leone have enjoyed good bilateral relationship over the years, adding he was ready to work with the current Minister of Health and Sanitation to make sure that he leaves a good footprint in the health sector.
He informed TAC members that they are in the country to serve humanity and urged them to be professionals while discharging their duty.
He reminded them that they should not be expecting to go on leave in the first one year.
Representing the Minister of Health and Sanitation, Senior Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Abdul Raman Forfana, said what Nigeria is doing for Sierra Leone represents real pan-Africanism.
He thanked the High Commissioner for strengthening the bilateral relationship between both counties, and called on the TAC members to feel at home and that his doors are always opened to receive any of their concerns.
He promised that they are going to make sure they give them safe and enabling working environment during their stay in the country.