Group Urges Edo Govt to Inaugurate Otuo Children Hospital

Group Urges Edo Govt to Inaugurate Otuo Children Hospital

Eddie Alegbe

A non-governmental organisation, Afemai Youth Council (AYC) has called on the Edo State Government to inaugurate the Otuo Mother and Children Hospital, which has been neglected for over decade now.

The acting President of the group, Mr. Monday Akele made the call at a news conference he addressed in Alausa, Lagos saturday, explaining the significance of the facility to the people of Owan East Local Government.

At the conference, Akele lamented that the hospital “has been taken over by bushes and all the modern equipments bought by previous government are rotting away on a daily basis.

For over 10 years, Akele lamented that the beautiful initiative and investment of the state government had been neglected while the good people of Owan East Local Government Area were in need of functional health facility.”

Specifically, in 2008, the acting president explained that the administration of former Governor Adams Oshiomhole refurbished and upgraded the facility to a standard hospital and rechristened it Otuo Mother and Child Hospital.

After Oshiomhole refurbished the facility, Akele noted that the hospital “has been operational with few nurses. But there has not been permanent resident doctor in the health facility. However, visiting doctors have been coming and going.”

He explained that the project was “established in 1972 by then mid-west government of Brig. General Osaigbovo Ogbemudia. In response to the outbreak of Guinea worm in the community in 1970 that killed a lot of children in the community.

“Huge investment was committed by the past administration and has since been wasting away, while the soul of the community is bleeding.”

Just recently, Akele observed that a former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Pally Iriase adopted the hospital as one of his constituency projects and brought the facility back alive again.

He said: “New equipment was supplied, to the tune of over N300 million and 24-hour solar based electricity system was also installed. With all these in place, what was left for this facility to be fully operational was for the state government to inaugurate it for the use of the people at the grassroots.”

He, therefore, urged the state governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki “to look into the plight of the people and employed qualified medical personnel into the service of the healthcare facilities, so that the citizens can benefit from the dividends of democracy.”

Related Articles