Late Gen Ukpo’s Family Inaugurates Special Cancer Treatment Centre in C’River

Bassey Inyang in Calabar

A special centre for the treatment of cancer patients has been established in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.

The facility christened Asi Ukpo Comprehensive Cancer Centre is located in Asi Ukpo Hospital.

To ensure the realisation of the objectives of the establishment of the cancer treatment centre, the family of late Brig. Gen. Anthony Asi Ukpo, has also established the Asi Ukpo Cancer Assistant Foundation for fund raising to enhance the treatment of financially-challenged cancer patients.

Speaking during the inauguration of the cancer centre, the Executive Director of the hospital, Mr. Yegwa Ukpo, said the vision behind the facility was that of his late father.

He said: “Before my father passed on, when he was setting up this centre, one of the things that came up was how the average Nigerian can afford the treatment.

“It is one thing to be diagnosed with cancer, and it is another thing to be able to pay for the treatment. So, my father, in his own foresight, when he was setting up this centre, said we should add a sister organisation to it-something not for profit making that will enable the people to access the cancer centre. So, that is why I am here to talk to you about the ASI Ukpo Cancer Assistant Foundation.”

Speaking further on the significances of the cancer centre and the Foundation,  Ukpo said: “The vision is to be able to allow cancer patients have access to treatment. This is something that he had setup a board for. I thought it will be a great opportunity for me to launch it. We are opening the cancer centre, and it would be a great opportunity to launch this noble Foundation too. This is a fund raiser, and we are hoping that with this seed, we will be able to give treatment to quite a number of patients who have actually come to our centre and have not been able to pay for their treatment.”

Also speaking, the Chief Medical Director of Asi Ukpo Hospital, Dr. Gbenga Kajogbola, said his late boss was so passionate about the project to the extent that even on his sick bed, he demanded to be pushed around in a wheelchair to inspect the progress work.

 “It is no longer a sad note because I know he is watching us and quite happy that we are attending to this. Even on his sick bed, he wanted to be pushed around to make sure that everything was put in order, and we thank God that more than 98 percent of the work was done before he died on the September 6, 2021,” Kajogbola said.

 Also, the state Deputy Governor, Evara Esu, said the late Ukpo, who was a former military governor of Rivers State, was a man of vision, and had a great love for his people.

Esu who represented the state Governor, Senator Ben Ayade, said: “I know that if Tony was alive, he would have taken me round this centre days before the launching, that was how closed we were. It is so difficult that he is not with us anymore but I do hope that the legacy that he left behind, especially this kind of giant legacy, will console us and encourage us to carry on.”