Abia State Government (ABSG) has commenced the functionalisation of the newly reconstructed, retrofitted and equipped Primary Health Centres (PHCs) across the state to grant access to healthcare to the people of the state.
The functionalisation started on Tuesday, with Nkwoegwu PHC in Umuahia North, Ogbodinibe PHC in Umuahia South and Ndiawa & Lokpaukwu in Umunneochi Local Government Area.
Speaking while formally declaring open the health facilities for public use, Abia state Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, informed that, out of the 200 Primary Health Centres being retrofitted under project Ekwueme, 140 are ready for use.
The Governor, represented by the Commissioner for Health, Professor Enoch Ogbonnaya Uche, said his government has brought to an end decades of neglect and dilapidation of health facilities across the state.
“Abia State was 36 over 36 in health care. In fact, the last in class. Today, the story is different. Abia has regained the number one position.
In just two years, the destruction, the dilapidation, the neglect of more than 24 years has been turned around. Just like the Bible says, when the righteous are in authority, the people do what? Rejoice! “Gov. Otti stated.
Governor Otti, who noted that his administration prioritises the health needs of the people, said his administration remains the first to have allocated 15 per cent of the state’s annual budget to the health sector back-to-back.
Governor Otti directed that the old building at the Nkwoegwu health centre be equipped with theatre facilities to attend to surgery cases. He announced that 15 Primary Health Centres in Umuahia North are beneficiaries of the retrofitting and renovation of project equipped with state of- the -arts facilities.
The state chief executive mentioned some equipment his government put in the PHCs across the state, “When you enter there, you will see all sorts of gadgets. You will see monitors that will check your heart and monitor your oxygen saturation.
“You will see auto-analysers there. Some of these auto-analysers, you don’t even see them in general hospitals. In other places in the country. You have facilities for oxygen delivery. You have even facilities that can help bring your heart back to life.
“Defibrillators that are here. You don’t have them in so many hospitals in this country. But you have them here.
“So we want to tell you that we no longer want our women to deliver in those places because there are no facilities to take care of them there. And there is no school. So this is the way you deliver.
The Governor, who revealed that the equipment is very expensive, stressed the need for the benefiting communities to ensure that they protect them, while assuring that homeland security has already been alerted to ensure that the facilities are protected.
In his remarks, the member representing Ikwuano/ Umuahia Federal Constituency Chief Obi Aguocha said that the people of Ikwuano/ Umuahia Federal Constituency have benefited a lot from the administration of Governor Alex Otti, noting that the Nkata Okpuala -Umunemeze road is ongoing, while the Umuakam Ohuhu road would equally experience a facelift.
He called on the Ikwuano Umuahia/ people to sustain their support for Governor Alex Otti’s administration as well as his future aspirations.
In their speeches, the Commissioner for Transport, Dr. Chimezie Ukaegbu, the Chief of Protocol to the Governor, Mr Uche Nwosu and former House member Chief Jerry Uzosike commended the landmark achievements of the Governor in the health sector and other sectors of the state economy, calling on stakeholders in the areas to cherish, own and protect the facilities for posterity.
In their remarks, the Mayor of Umuahia North LGA, Chief Smart Iheoma and his Umuahia South counterpart, Mr Chinedu Enwereuzo, while describing Governor Otti as a performer, noted that the facilities in the health centres are of international standard and thanked the Governor for making the health care needs of Abians their top priority.
The Health Authority Secretary, Umuahia North, Mrs Eke Ngozi and her Umuahia South counterpart, Mrs Igwe Eucheria, while thanking Governor Otti’s administration for its numerous welfare programmes, encouraged benefitting communities to always access the quality health services provided in the centres.
E-signed
DIVINE NWANKWO
HOD (INFORMATION)
GOVERNMENT HOUSE UMUAHIA,
09 – 09-2025.
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