Well before the Federal Government announced the ban on the microblogging platform, Twitter, on Friday June 4, its preference for a heavy-handed and bellicose approach to public issues had become a matter of serious concern to citizens at home and abroad. Strikingly, this attitude is proceeding in the face of widespread insecurity; lack of economic opportunity, especially for young people; widening state-society disconnect, leading to deepening disaffection, growing immiseration, and socio-political ills too numerous to count.

We, the undersigned, have collectively reflected on the current state of affairs in the country and consider it an act of public service to take a stand by speaking directly to the government.

The immediate trigger for the Twitter ban was the platform’s deletion of a tweet posted on President Muhammadu Buhari’s handle, the site having judged the tweet as not abiding by its policy. However, long before this incident, on which the dust is yet to settle, the government had exhibited a willingness to censor public debate, especially on social media. The proposed but defeated Social Media Bill of 2019 was an early signal of this position. In the aftermath of the #EndSARS protests of October 2020, the Minister for Information, Mr Lai Mohammed, publicly declared that social media must be “regulated” in order to prevent the spread of “fake news”. Several media outlets and public commentators have identified a pattern between this official position and repeated and coordinated attempts at guiding personal access to telecommunications data through registration of NIN and other directives to telecommunications companies..

There is a sense in which Nigeria as a country is going through a long, transitional period of democratic awakening, considering that the Fourth Republic marks the first sustained span (of twenty-two years) of civilian rule since independence. From this perspective, it is understandable that different aspects of society – political, economic, religious, and the like – come to a belated awareness of its intrinsic value and significance. What appears like disorder from a purely statistical or empirical point-of-view could then be perceived as a civilian body politic, a system of rule of law, slowly renewing itself away from the predatory, psychological violence of military rule.

However, as the government under President Buhari has shown, a civilian government does not automatically make for a rule of law regime, or a democracy underpinned by the separation of powers marked by a just, humane, and transparent conduct of government. If the actions of the current government are anything to go by, a civilian government is clearly and unceasingly reversing the gains of nearly three decades of public-spirited citizens holding the government of the day to standards of democracy, whether such a government is led by a soldier or by a civilian.

President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR) has often referred to the gazette which published the grazing laws in Nigeria. In his television interview to mark his sixth anniversary in power, he made reference to the so called gazette. The President was echoing what his Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari said on April 1, 2018 when he was the Chancellor of the Kwara State University in Ilorin. On that day, Professor Gambari referred to existing laws on grazing and that the major problem facing us now is the non-implementation of the grazing laws as contained in the gazette.

My understanding is that both the President and his Chief of Staff were equating the laws of Northern Nigeria on grazing, as if they were laws passed by the central government. The grazing laws, which the two men referred to, were passed into a decree by the then the Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto. The laws were not operative in the West, Mid-West and Eastern regions.

According to Dr. Ismaila Iro, grazing reserves in Nigeria started during the pre-colonial era. Although formally introduced by the British, grazing reserves were demarcated by the Fulani who conquered and ruled Northern Nigeria. The attempt by the British in 1940 to separate the grazing land from the farm land, however, faltered because the Europeans imposed land use controls divorced from economic and demographic dynamics in the pastoral system.

Formal grazing reserves in Nigeria started accidentally in the 1950s when Hamisu Kano, working with pastoralists on livestock vaccination, foresaw the shortages of grazing land in Northern Nigeria. Supported by the government, he initiated the grazing reserve scheme from the abandoned government resettlement schemes (Fulani Settlement Scheme). The resettlement schemes collapsed because the government had neither the financial nor the managerial ability to continue with the financially burdensome scheme, and the best alternative use of the land, the government thought, was to convert it into grazing reserves that were less financially committed.

The grazing reserve hatched in 1954 after a study of the Fulani production system contained in the “Fulani Amenities Proposal.” The proposal suggested the creation of grazing reserves, the improvement of Fulani welfare, and the transformation of the herd management system.

By 1964, the government had gazetted about 6.4 million hectares of forest reserve, ninety-eight per cent in the savanna. Sokoto Province had twenty-one per cent of the land, followed by Kabba, Bauchi, Zaria, Ilorin, and Katsina, with 11 to 15 per cent each. The Wase, Zamfara, and Udubo reserves followed in succession.
In 1965, the Northern Nigerian Government incorporated the Fulani Amenities Proposal into the Grazing Reserve Law.

Before the enactment of the Grazing Reserve Law of the Northern Nigeria, the pastoral Fulani relied on the goodwill of the farmers, who conferred upon themselves the lordship of occupied and unoccupied land. Because interpersonal and kinship affiliations governed the dispensation of land, the Fulani worried about being evicted from the land when their relationship with the hosts becomes strained.

The planners, however, applied a top-down approach that excluded the Fulani from formulating and implementing this well-intentioned programme. Accordingly, the Fulani gave less than the expected cooperation in the scheme. Professor Gambari, coming from Kwara State, had in mind the Kwara State grazing laws that were in existence years ago.

In an article by Professor Ade Olomola, he said the grazing laws in Kwara State was in operation only in the State. According to him, the main focus of the settlement policy is the development of grazing reserves in the State. The objectives of the policy were: (i) to provide feed and water for pastoralists on a year-round basis; (ii) to eliminate nomadism, improve cattle production and raise the living standards of pastoralists; (iii) to ensure efficient use and protection of environmental resources; and, (iv) to prevent or minimise incessant clashes between herders and farmers, which often result in bloodshed and the loss of life.

The procedures involved in the implementation of the policy include land acquisition, demarcation, surveying, gazetting of grazing reserves, development of grazing reserves and settlement of pastoralists. The following are the grazing reserves, at various stages of acquisition, in Kwara State: Nweri, Kinikini, Gidan Magajia, Moli, Wuru, Okuta , Olodan, Igbaja, Alapa, Babanla, Chita, Lata, Oro, Sharagi, Shao, Kaiama and Omi-Eran (LSC).

The Gidan Magajia is one of the two grazing reserves that have been gazetted in the State. It is the largest in the State and the focus of attention. Two implementation committees were set up for the purpose of development and management of the reserve, as well as settlement of pastoralists. They are the policy committee at the state level and grazing reserve management committee at the local government level.

The former is charged with the responsibility of formulating and defining development policy and ensuring that the management committee is provided with the means to achieving management objectives. The latter is to advise and assist on matters affecting the settlers on a day-to-day basis, as well as identifying settlers for the reserve.

The Order setting up the reserve stipulates that it should be maintained through proper grazing management and improvement activities, such as water development, fodder conservation plan, range reseeding and fertilisation, control of undesirable weeds and fire tracing. Other development activities include the construction of earth dams, boreholes and wells to provide watering facilities; construction of roads, office and residential quarters; establishment of livestock services centre and pasture development.

Moreover, efforts are to be made to ensure that the highest possible level of productivity is achieved without endangering the reserve. To this end, the government stipulates that soil and water conservation and other erosion control methods should be used to prevent degradation, desertification and overgrazing, and to maintain the carrying capacity of the reserve.

Both the Federal and Kwara State governments are supposed to play active parts in the development of the grazing reserve. The Federal Government is to be involved in the provision of infrastructure, such as dams, roads and means of transport for range guards through the agency of the National Livestock Projects Division (NLPD). The Kwara State government has the responsibility to acquire the land, following stipulated legal procedures, and provide staff for the management of the reserve. As at 1992, five government officials, consisting of a project officer, a veterinary assistant, two range guards and a security guard were operating in the reserve.

In short, the central government did not enact any grazing law. The best the central government has done was the promulgation of National Commission for Nomadic Education, Decree 25, 1989 and National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-formal Education, Decree 17, 1990. These two decrees were promulgated by General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd.; GCFR). The Minister of Education at that time was Professor Babatunde Aliu Fafunwa (September 23, 1923 – October 11, 2010). All the military governors at that time were ordered by General Babangida to launch it in their states.

I remember at that time that there were public outcries about the decree; that it favoured the Fulani people. I think it was the best thing at that time that the central government ever did for the Fulani people. The Commission devised a series of innovative approaches and strategies.

Other mandates include establishment, management and maintenance of primary schools in the settlements and grazing reserves carved out for nomadic people, to determine the standards of skills to be attained in nomadic schools, to arrange for effective monitoring and evaluation of activities of agencies concerned with nomadic education; to liaise and co-operate with other relevant ministries and agencies; to receive block grants and funds from the Federal Government or any agency authorised on that behalf and allocate same to nomadic school based on any formula approved by the Federal Executive Council.

Also, to act as an agency for chanelling all external aids to nomadic schools in Nigeria; to ensure effective inspection of nomadic education activities in Nigeria through the sections in the Federal and State Ministries of Education performing duties relating to nomadic education; to collate, analyse and publish information relating to nomadic education in Nigeria; and to undertake any other action desirable for the promotion of nomadic education.

The objectives of the nomadic education programme are to: Expose the nomadic child to the elementary forms of modern education; enable the nomadic child take part in the development of his immediate environment, in particular, and the country in general; make the nomadic child self-reliant to improve his living conditions, thus eliminating the hardships and constraints in his/her life; help him/her modernise his/her techniques of herdsmanship on animal management, fishing or farming as the case may be; assist the nomadic child develop rapidly and fully both physically and intellectually, to cope with the demands of the contemporary world; and develop the initiative of the nomadic child and stimulate in him/her scientific and analytical modes of thinking.

On November 22 last year, the Executive Secretary for Nomadic Education, Professor Bashir Usman said out of the estimated population of 9.4 million nomads in Nigeria, 3.3 million are children of school age. The participation of the nomads in the existing formal and non-formal education programmes is abysmally low, with a literacy rate ranging between 0.2 per cent and 2.9 per cent.

Eric Teniola, a former director in the Presidency, writes from Lagos.

Soon after the Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq’s government came into power, it introduced a plan for revitalization of education which laid stress on renovation of school facilities and recruitment of science based teachers. Senior trade union leaders were brought into government to establish a consensus in support of economic strategy.

Throughout its exertion to promote the development of various sectors, the Kwara state government has pursued a fairly consistent economic policy. This policy has two main elements; first, the state has sought to create an environment conducive to the growth of private enterprises, among both indigenous and foreign investors; second, it has intervened through the market to guide private sector development and has established what we describe as ‘Government-Owned Corporations’ (GOCs) where private investors have not or yet to respond to government’s invite to invest. Apart from stable macroeconomic policy, the favorable environment has been based upon public investments in human capital and infrastructure, and the maintenance of good labor relations.

Soon after the Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq’s government came into power, it introduced a plan for revitalization of education which laid stress on renovation of school facilities and recruitment of science based teachers. Senior trade union leaders were brought into government to establish a consensus in support of economic strategy. Statutory boards were critically engaged to be directly involved in assisting government actualize its reform programmes.

Statutory boards are de facto extensions of the civil service, supervised by the ministries and answerable to the executive but with autonomy in the day-to-day management of their operations. There is a statutory board in almost every socio-economic field, including public health, water, education and finance. They have shown to be cost-effective and generate operating funds. GOCs under the statutory boards were established for strategic reasons. For instance, where the private sector was slow to invest or inadequately invested, the state government came in as a rescue pilot (e.g in hospitals and medical services).

With the ascendancy of Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to the governorship position of Kwara State (29 May, 2019), and his decision to appoint new faces into the cabinet, the state became a podium for heralding new political generation with the mandate to confront new economic challenges. Crucial new policy areas have been aimed at preparing for new economic competition: agriculture, education, health, finance and infrastructure. Abdulrazaq of course, can only be defined as a new leader in the narrowest sense of the world, who came in with plenty of experience as a successful business man having become the chief executive officer of an oil company as early as age thirty.

The governor and the other political leaders who share same political thought continually declare that, the current socio-economic reform came to challenge the status quo, and the impact this will have on Kwara economic structure will definitely be central to the state’s narrative. Most notably, the government also highlighted the undeniable impact of Covid-19 in creating a new centre for high-end investment environment in the geographical space called Kwara, as the pandemic came in the eve of the launch of his tenure. Despite that, the Abdulrazaq led administration has actively vend the introduction of new sectors to the economy in ICT, visual art and entertainment, entrepreneurship nomenclated kwarapreneur, and other services requiring new skills and assets amongst the Kwara workforce. The new sectors benefited either from government’s soft loan or free interest loan. It’s beyond doubt that these innovative sectors, let slip new set of talented Kwarans whose skills set will be vital to national economic progress. In fact, the innovative sectors are clear departure from what citizens’ empowerment used to be in Kwara in previous administration.

In the conservative psyche, the social-liberal and political model which the kwara state governor deliberately chose for the common good has not been uniformly well received, especially among some elites who perceived it as odd when matched with the previous understanding of elite-masses relationship in the state. Some political elites within and outside the O-to-Ge movement have never made any attempt to hide the fact that, they do not perceive the liberal life and governance style of governor Abdulrazaq as being of high value to Kwara. They attempted to establish a domestic political paradigm based on the following philosophies:

• Design Kwara as an ‘administrative state’ consisting of few politicians and a selected elite bureaucracy or intelligentsia who themselves opportunistically gained or regained political relevance through the O-to-Ge mass wedding. Thus, proximately involved in deciding what is in the best interest of Kwara citizens even when they do not hold any political office in the state;

• The elitist politicians particularly prefer to be known as people who take on the role of policy makers, as opposed to the policy-advisory role which they wield comparative advantage in, by default;
• That, cabinet and other appointments by the governor must pass through their altar at least to receive Alubarika (spiritual blessing) if not endorsement.

Whereas, the governor unleashed his checksums to reflect the followings in the state:

• Redirection of popular emotion away from politics towards the economy. This he did by focusing on socio-investment programmes for the masses and appointing into public offices, those he believed could assist him to rebuild the state without necessarily being an appendage or getting the endorsement of any political bigwig.

• Reduction of political competition tantamount to increased power of administrative authority with maximal direct accountability to the public. A development that appears like two-edged sword that could even put the credibility of the governor, his cabinet and other elected officers to question. Recently, Kwarans have witnessed probing questions from the media and other civil society organizations challenging perceived non-implementation or poor implementation of contracts. Examples; EnetSUD vs Kwara State Government on Government High School Project, Kwara Must Change/Legislative Watch vs Kwara Lawmakers on constituency projects and cumulative legislative performances. These kinds of checkers were unprecedented in kwara politics, courtesy Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.

• The focus of the government is closer to a driving interest on delivering to the citizens; security of lives and property, healthy and improved living condition, employment opportunity, infrastructure and quality education.

The governor’s posture, I always describe as understanding the idiom of survival. An important aspect of this ‘idiom of survival’ is the understanding that, the primary aspect of good governance is predicated upon the ability to bring about positive change before agitations from different quarters which could lead to crisis. By and large, Kwara has witnessed unprecedented reordering of governance under Abdulrazaq, opening new frontiers for nobody to become somebody. Though with couple of challenges clogging its wheel, the state no doubt has made meaningful progress, but can only do more with a steady hand on the tiller.

Abdulkadir can be reached via ameeniyi@gmail.com

Preamble

In my drive to judiciously evaluate and incontrovertibly unriddle the giant strides compendiously and steadily recorded in all critical sectors of the economy in the Southeast State of Ebonyi, the need for this second and concluding expository piece on one of the emerging and fast-growing economies of Nigeria becomes expedient.

Upon an invitation extended to me by the Ebonyi State Commissioner of Information, Barr. Uchenna Orji, who probably, may have kept an eye on my activities and media engagements spanning over a period of thirty years and counting, to do an independent assessment and explore the infrastructural development crisscrossing the nooks and crannies of Ebonyi State, under the administration of Engr. Dave Umahi, and inform Nigerians accordingly, I cannot but categorically state that aside Rivers State, under Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi as Governor, the gale of legacy projects scattered in Ebonyi State and the speed with which industrialization is cropping up, is such that has never happened elsewhere.

In the first phase of this series, published a few weeks ago, I shared the bewildering experience I had upon arrival to Ebonyi. The litany of projects, beautiful city landscape, smooth roads, magnificent buildings, beautiful lightings etc, which stared me in the face forced me into utter consternation so much so that I was tight-lipped, the intervention of some government officials however saved the day.

Aware of my predicament, Hon. Okoro Enakwaechi a young but sound mind of Ebonyi extraction living in Lagos in reacting to my pitiable situation stated, “Iron sharpens iron. To many who understand your command of the pen, your invitation by  the enigmatic information  Commissioner of Ebonyi  State, Barr. Orji, can never come as any  surprise. As for your first hand  assessment of the projects on ground,  I can only add that your audience should endeavor to go and see things by themselves because no journalist on earth can completely capture the scope, quality and sophistication in infrastructural renaissance of Engr David Umahi in Ebonyi State on either print or electronic media.”

As if the counsel of Hon. Enakwachi” was not enough, my good friend and brother, Dr. Omenazu Jackson cautioned and stated, “Eze well done for on the spot assessment of Umahi’s projects, but how I wish International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights was involved in this Projects monitoring.”

In my contemplation of abandoning this assiduously task and running back to Rivers State where billions of taxpayers’ monies are wasted on Television adverts of bogus and nonexistent projects concentrated within two Local Government Areas to the determinant of the others, High Chief, Uhuo Ken Jegede, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information motivated me to stay, when he sent me the text below “Chief Eze, You have proved that you are a doyen and veteran in this field. More people like you are needed for stability and orderliness of the society therefore I’m not surprised at the superlative quality of the piece… it’s your vintage self. It’s worthy of publication in our national tabloids.

I doff my cap Chief, in salute, for your literary prowess.”

If a great fellow like Chief Jegede whom I have not met before until my arrival to the State could say this much for just one treatise, then I have no reason to abandon this task.

Conclusion on the Magic Wand of Governor Umahi in the Health Sector

The first treatise on this project was titled, “Umahi Set to End Foreign Health Tourism, Redoubles Efforts to Unveil World Class Medical Centre as Eze Embarks On Seven Days Projects Tour of Gale of Projects in Ebonyi State (PART ONE).

In this treatise, I exposed the vision of Governor Umahi to end foreign Health Tourism by initiating a world class Medical Centre when operational, power supply will be 24hours as it would have power from solar, generator and national grid. “the Medical College after completion, will have centres of excellence in cancer management, kidney transplant with dialysis centre, liver transplant, and other diseases. It will have the latest diagnostic equipment that can be rated amongst the best anywhere in the world. The technology to be employed is equally second to none.

The centre will be manned by the best hands anywhere in the world and the structures are classical”. The diagnostic equipment are coming directly from the manufacturers and almost all of them are ready. It’s going to be a centre of medical tourism, he emphasised.

With the appointment of an erudite, outstanding Scholar and seasoned Administrator, Professor Chigozie Jesse Uneke, as the Acting Vice Chancellor of the University, to ensure the smooth take off and effective management of King David Medical Science University, Uburu, Ohaozara LGA, by His Excellency, the Governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. Chief David Nweze Umahi, FNSE, FNATE, it can be concluded that Nigerians will soon have the best Medical Centre in Nigeria.

The new Acting Vice Chancellor is expected to deploy his wealth of experiences to manage the new institution to achieve the vision of establishing the University by Ebonyi State Government.

 The Basics and Foundation of Laying Solid Health Sector in Ebonyi State

The administration started by sending the following Executive bills to the Ebonyi State House of Assembly and assenting to them thereafter:

a. Bill for the establishment of the Ebonyi State School of Health Technology, Ngbo

b. Bill for the establishment of the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency

c. Bill for the establishment of the Ebonyi State Health Insurance Scheme, among others.

Throwing more light on the bills, Dr Umezurike stated: “To make sure our health foundation is very strong, and that is what we are doing, by strengthening the primary health care in Ebonyi. Ebonyi State, prior to this administration, was one of the few States that had not passed this law on primary healthcare.

The target of Ebonyi State Government under the administration of Governor Umahi is to have one standard healthcare in each of the 431 polling Wards. Five primary healthcare facilities are targeted at each council that give services 24/7, coupled with welfare and facilities and full complement of staff, including midwives and nurses. With these we will achieve the universal coverage.

        Remarkable Feats:

The Vision behind the Setting up of the Virology Centre in Ebonyi State

This treatise will attempt to conclude the revolutionary and magic wand that Governor Umahi has employed to ensure that Ebonyians are well catered for in the area of health especially, with the setting up of the only virology centre in the SouthEast and the second in the whole of Southern Nigeria. This centre is used to test and treat various dreadful diseases including COVID-19 pandemic, Lassa Fever and similar deadly diseases.

The vision to set up the Virology Centre situated within Dr. Alex Ekweme Hospital Abakaliki started when the report of how Lassa fever has been a health challenge to the people of Ebonyi State.

Records have it that in 2005, Lassa fever killed five health workers while in 2008, it killed three health workers and affected many others and sadly, two of these three health workers were Medical Doctors. In 2012, it affected about 12 health workers with one person dead. In 2013, there was also isolated case where one person died. These affected numbers exclude other citizens we do not have their records.

This menace was a real terror and caused a lot of havoc in Ebonyi State and the major challenges in curtailing it was the fact that the treatment of this disease is very costly. The Virology Laboratory in the State, a Federal health Institution qualified to treat this ailment have just three rooms and no isolation ward. In this case, if we have more than three victims at a time, others are kept in the general ward thereby endangering both patients and health workers.

To worsen the situation, the State cannot also confirm the diagnosis of victims until samples are sent to Irrua Special Hospital in Edo State for confirmation of the diagnosis. It takes about five days to get the confirmation report from Edo which means treatment of the victim will be delayed and if proven positive the symptoms becomes very bad. If you commence early treatment the patient has chances of survival as the disease is curable and preventable provided the needful are done at the appropriate time

Umahi and his magic wand/ Construction/Equipping of Virology Centre

When the above ugly scenario and challenges was presented to Governor Umahi, he immediately charged the Ministry of Health to commence the building of a Virology Centre in Ebonyi State within a month and to equip it accordingly. Based on the Governor’s charge, the ministry has completed the construction and equipping of a multi-million naira modern virology centre in FETHA II, Abakaliki, where suspected cases of Lassa Fever and other acute hemorrhagic fevers will be diagnosed and managed.

This is the first of its kind in the entire South-east and the second in Southern part of Nigeria. This project started because of the Governor’s love for his people, who before this period has lost so many lives due to delays in sending and receiving sample results from Irrua Specialist Hospital in Edo State.

The ex-Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Folorunso Adewole commissioned the facility, stating that the establishment of the centre will definitely enhance a great partnership between Nigerian Government and the government of Ebonyi State, and will among other benefits, lead to the provision of more equipment and grants to the Centre.

Adewole expressed hope that the centre would help curb the menace of lassa fever ravaging the zone, assuring that the purpose of the centre would never be defeated.

To the glory of God, this Virology Centre was upgraded for the treatment of Covid 19 and Lassa fever. This made it possible for the State to be amongst few other States where the menace of COVID-19 was reduced to the barest.

 Other Key Interventions in the Health Sector by Governor Umahi

1. Checking Epidemic Outbreaks

The Ebonyi State Ministry of Health since May 29, 2015, has put in professional competence in management of outbreak of epidemics in the state. It has strengthened the epidemiology unit and its emergency response unit to ensure that all cases of outbreaks are brought under control. This is evident in the way the ministry managed and controlled the cholera outbreak in the state. This deadly disease has been successfully controlled till date. The state government, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, have also approved that the treatment and diagnosis of malaria, in all government-owned hospitals, is free of charge. This has drastically reduced the morbidity and mortality associated with malaria.

Other Feats

Apart from setting up of the Ebonyi State University Teaching Hospital & Faculty of Medicine, Uburu, aimed at ending foreign health tourism in Nigeria and the visionary setting up a Virology centre to tackle dreadful and deadly diseases, Governor Umahi went ahead to accomplish the following:

1. Reconstructed, equipped and modernized the 13 General Hospitals in various LGAs in the State with Doctors and Nurses quarters.

2. Built and equipped World Standard school of nursing & Midwifery in Uburu.

3. Establishment of Ebonyi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency.

4. Effective tricycle ambulance service system for emergencies.

5. Construction of Standard Accident and Emergency Ward / ICU at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki.

6. Ebonyi State University Community General Hospital Uburu.

7. Development of Blue Print on Health

8. Completion of 3 buildings at School of Health Technology Ngbo

9. Fencing of college of Nursing and Midwifery

8. Construction of School Block at EBSUTH Uburu

9. Construction of Hospital Block

10. Construction of Utility Block

11. Construction of 2 Senior Staff quarters

12. Construction of 2 Junior Staff quarters

13. Construction of 4 Hostel Blocks

14. Renovation of Elunwovu Health Centre to serve as a holding and treatment centre for Covid 19

15. Provision of new cold chain in MOH

16. Fencing of MOH premises

17. Elimination of Malaria through Distribution of 1.7 million bed bet

The Ministry of Health, in partnership with United States Agency for International Development (USAID), distributed 1.7 million insecticide-treated bed-nets, as part of measures towards preventing and eliminating the scourge of malaria. Malaria is still a major public health problem in Nigeria, and the Tropics, affecting about 5 million people across the globe annually, especially women and children

In the same vein, the ministry also attracted medical equipment worth N47 million from USAID in February 2016. EU-SIGN also donated N121 million worth of direct-drive solar freezers (38 in number) to the state, to support and strengthen immunization activities. It is worthy to note also that Ebonyi State took first position as the ‘Best-Performing State’ in malaria elimination in the whole country and our governor was decorated as USAID Ambassador.

18. Medical Outreach

One of the most recent achievements of this administration is the medical outreach, called Akubara-oha Free Medical Outreach, conducted at Ezzeama in Ezza South LGA and Agugwu-Uburu in Ohaozara LGA. The results of the exercises are quite successful. Over 2000 medical cases were seen: 98 surgeries, 26 tooth extractions, and 262 eye glasses issued to eye patients. Most of our people who because of economic situation could not access medical care were treated free of charge. The joy of these people knew no bounds as they prayed for God’s guidance and long live for the governor. His Excellency, having seen the success of these exercises and its attendant benefits, gave the ministry the mandate to conduct such free medical outreach in all the 24 constituencies of Ebonyi. The ministry is already concluding arrangements to kick-start the exercise. The whole essence is to ensure that the poorest of the poor get medical care of all ailments, and to reduce their disease burden and, ultimately, prevent untimely deaths to the rural people

19. Construction of Chest Clinic at Mile 4 Hospital

The ministry also, through our informal connection with Chevron and Agbami partners, attracted an ultra-modern Chest Clinic, for the treatment of drug resistant tuberculosis and other related chest pathologies. The construction, which is ongoing in the Mile 4 Hospital, Abakaliki, will be completed in the next three months

Though it is not possible to put in one or two treatises what the adminstration of Governor Umahi has achieved in the Health Sector, let me reiterate that to ensure qualitative and affordable health services in Ebonyi State; a School of Health which is in the forefront of teaching people the fundamentals of total health management was established thereby raising health officials that will help to manage health facilities in the state.

 Governor Umahi Reacts To One Of The Most Significant Feats Of His Administration:

In his State broadcast commemorating his six years as the Governor of Ebonyi State on 29th May, 2021, Engr. David Nweze Umahi highlighted, “Significant among the things that we have done is the new University of Medical Sciences in Ohaozara which has been signed into law, passed by the House of Assembly, and by this, we are highly grateful to God, this University is not going to be cheap, it is going to be a very high profile  University that can compete favorably with any University in the world, and we are projecting that the total income from this University at the end of the first two years will be about the average of 30 billion per annum, and so, this University will be able to sustain itself and sustain other higher Institutions in the State.

Finishing touches are going on now at the University and we are also trudging very highly at the International Airport. Some of our brothers in the South East have argued why Ebonyi State should have an international airport and that is the mind of those who don’t love us, they want us to go into second slavery but this has become the Nazareth not just of the South East but of the entire Country. Who is he that speaketh when God has not spoken and God has spoken that this is the Nazareth of this Nation and no man can stop it, and funny enough we are going to have the longest and widest tarmac in this Country, we are pushing ahead.

Conclusion

Let me conclude this treatise by quoting one of the greatest leaders of all time, Mohandas K. Gandhi of India, who asserted that: “It is health that is real wealth, and not pieces of gold and silver.”  And, in agreement, Robert Alan Silverstein, stated: “Good health is one of the most important ingredients for a happy and productive life. And, yet, many people do not have access to health care, but live in conditions that spread disease.”

Based on the above Governor Umahi’s love for humanity and his people need not be overemphasized.

I will, in the coming days, present my report on the Airport Project said to be one of the best in Nigeria alongside other projects that qualifies Umahi as not only a visionary leader, but also an exceptional and proud icon of the APC led Government.  

Eze Chukwuemeka Eze is a Media Consultant based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and can be reached thru ezemediaconcept2020@gmail.com