Three years since Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha began
the construction of what he called “world class hospitals” in all the state’s
27 local government areas, only one of them has been completed while all the
others are uncompleted, unequipped and abandoned at various stages, according
to a report of the Eastern Nigeria Governance Tour by development consultant
Bamikole Oluwafemi Adeleye.
Bamikole Adeleye is a researcher, social advocate and active
citizen working with a coalition of other active Nigerians in a Citizen
Governance & Media Advocacy Programme (CGMAP).
While launching the projects in 2014, the report said,
Governor Okorocha promised that all the hospitals will be completed and made
fully functional by January 2015. But a recent tour of the project sites showed
that only the Airforce Hospital in Owerri North has been completed. The General
Hospital at Aboh Mbaise, which serves three local governments, is abandoned.
The report said “Njaba hospital has no equipment, no gate, is not
functional and has bushes all over the yard.” The good governance tour found
the same situation at Orlu, Nkwerre, Ahiazu and Ikeduru. At Ahiazu, the report
said the main general hospital was demolished by Okorocha’s government to make
way for a timber market but the new one being built to replace it has been
abandoned with bushes all over the site.
The report said the uncompleted or abandoned hospital
projects have cost the state dearly because billions of naira was sunk into
them but citizens have not reaped any benefits. The report also noted that
construction of new hospitals was embarked upon even though Imo State’s
existing general hospitals have no access to clean water or regular power
supply and they suffer from an acute shortage of medical personnel.
According to the report, Okorocha launched a “Free Health
For all” program in 2014, with pomp and fanfare. Under the program, he promised
the treatment of aged citizens at no cost, improvement of medical services in
the state and upgrading of health facilities. Three years afterwards, the report
said respondents in all local governments surveyed said there is “no
improvement in the employment of quality workforce,” that quality of service in
the hospitals have declined and that out-patient services for citizens are very
expensive.
The report described the decision to set up the new hospitals
as “impractical, wasteful, and not based on sound policy qualities (e.g.
technical efficiency, equitable distribution of health welfare or allocative
efficiency).”
When contacted, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor
Okorocha, Mr Sam Onwuemeodo, said four of the projects have been completed,
equipped, and handed over to the Army, Navy, and Police. He did not say why
others have not been completed.
Onwuemeodo said: “All those telling you lies about the Imo
State government should go and repent. I am talking to you not just as the
Chief Press Secretary to His Excellency, the governor of Imo State, but also as
a child of God. The PDP ruled this state for 16 years but they used the state
funds to organise parties and merriment. Today, we are talking of Governor
Okorocha’s administration that has completed over 1000 projects, and you are
there listening to people telling lies against the government.”
By Stella Iyaji
