20th Anniversary Specialist Hospital: A Legacy to Tertiary Health Care Delivery
Governor Godswill Akpabio takes a very holistic approach in his agenda
of uncommon transformation. This Uncommon Transformation touches every sector.
In the health sector he is sparing no expenses in building and equipping general
hospitals and health centres. His target is to have a general hospital in every
local government area. About six have been completed and commissioned while
several construction work is ongoing in others. In addition, old hospitals are
being renovated and rehabilitated. But the most beautiful feather on the cap of
Akpabio’s achievement in the health sector is the ultra-modern referral centre
fondly tagged 20th Anniversary Specialist Hospital. This is an ambitious
project which Akpabio has vowed to complete and commission by September, 2014. During
our tour of the complex, the project manager assured us that it is very
possible to achieve 100% completion by September if His Excellency continues to
make funds available as he has been doing. The work, so far, is more than 80%
completed.
According to the health Commissioner of Akwa Ibom State, this specialist
hospital will serve as a referral centre that will offer services beyond the
state and possibly beyond the country. Akpabio’s vision for this hospital
project is to arrest capital flight in form of health tourism overseas.
Although there are people who would prefer to go overseas to treat such
ailments as headache and toothache, there are also those who genuinely have good
causes to seek medical help outside the country due to lack of expertise and
adequate facilities and equipment within the country for the treatment of very
complicated health conditions. To such,
the 20th Anniversary Specialist Hospital would be a welcome development. And to
the government of Akwa Ibom State, the huge amount spent on medical bills of
top government functionaries for treatment overseas can be channeled to some
other areas of need within the state for the benefit of the uncommon people of
Akwa Ibom State.To ensure that the hospital does not become a white elephant
project, plans are in place to involve the private sector and overseas
partnership in its management.
In addition
to the 20th Anniversary Specialist Hospital and all the general hospitals,
Akpabio has also invested in health of the people by providing free medical
care for pregnant women, children under the age of five and people above the
age of 60. The quality health care facilities and provisions are not restricted
to only residents of Uyo and its environs. But all local government areas in
Akwa Ibom State benefit from these Uncommon Transformation programmes. Some major
uncommon health care transformation high lights in local government areas
include:
1. Construction
of five new general hospitals in five local government areas (Essien Udim,
Ibeno, Ukanafun, Eastern Obolo and Ika).
2. Construction
of primary health care centres in the three senatorial districts of Akwa Ibom
State.
3. Oxygen
plant at the general hospital Ikot Ekpene
4. Pediatrics
block at University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, plus a donation of N50m
5. Utility
vehicles for 159 doctors.
War Against
Illiteracy: Uncommon Transformation in Education Sector
Of all the Uncommon Transformations of Governor Godswill Obot Akpabio, the
most fundamental which touches the lives of the most vulnerable group is the
provision of free and compulsory education for all children of school age
resident in Akwa Ibom State. This is a great investment in the lives of the
future generation of Akwa Ibom and a
lasting legacy that posterity cannot forget. The effect will be far reaching
and permanent. The obvious implication is that it means complete eradication of
illiteracy and abject poverty. It also means mental development and
psychological reorientation. It translates to building of self-worth and self-esteem.
No more will the names Ekaette and Okon be synonymous with house-girl and
house-boy; no longer will human traffickers look to Akwa Ibom State for the
supply of their human merchandise, to be sold into modern slavery due to
illiteracy and poverty. Governor Akpabio has, with one swift move, backed up
with political will, redeemed and reinvented the image of the people of Akwa
Ibom State, and changed their psyche for the better. Akpabio didn’t just make
the free education policy on paper, he backed it up with muscles:
1 .The
E-Library stands as testament to good reading culture
2. He
has provided free text books
3. He
pays WAEC, NECO and NABTEB registration fees for all candidates including those
in Federal Government Colleges
4. Rehabilitated
and constructed over six thousand(6000) school blocks for public schools
5. Construction
of hostels
6. Supply
of over ten thousand wooden double desks to primary and secondary schools in
the State
7. Payment
of grants to medical and law students of the State
8. Training
and re-training of teachers, inspectors, education officers, principals, etc.
Uncommon
Transformation in the Agric Sector
Akwa Ibom
State is a major oil producing state, but this uncommon leader with uncommon
vision refuses to yield to the temptation and mistake of depending solely on
oil revenue allocation from the federal government purse. He sees the potential
in Agriculture for diversification of the state revenue sources for economic
growth through the supply of agro based raw materials for industry, creation of
business and generation of employment.
Ibom Power
Plant and Regular Electricity
Regular Power
supply is another very fundamental infrastructure that makes for sustainable
development while creating enabling environment for self employment. With
regular electricity, small businesses can run profitably at very low costs.
Using generators to run such small businesses as documentary services centres,
hair dressing saloons, barbing shops, private sports viewing centres etc,
proves to be very costly and unprofitable due to high cost of fuel for running
the generators. As a result, many of such businesses do not survive for up to
six months before they die out. But with the Uncommon Transformation Agenda of
Governor Godswill Akpabio, 191 mega watts Ibom Power Plant has been completed
and commissioned. In addition, he has linked over 1500 communities to the
national grid. About 87% of Akwa Ibom State has electricity and he plans to
achieve 100% coverage before leaving office in 2015.
Akwa Ibom
State International Airport
Godswill
Akpabio, the man with uncommon vision saw that a state without a world class
airport cannot hope to boost tourism. So he went all out to ensure that tourism
flourishes in Akwa Ibom State by building an International Airport. Major
features of the Akwa Ibom State International Airport include:
1. 3.6km
International standard runway
2. World
class MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) facilities, which will service
Boeing 747-400 series jets
3. Airport
Police Station
4. Certified
aircraft rescue and fire fighting facilities
5. First
class interim domestic terminal
6. Technical
and Administrative Buildings
7. Health
Clinic
21st Century
State-of- the- Art Stadium With 30,000 Seating Capacity
This is the best modern stadium in Africa. Perhaps Akpabio is wooing
FIFA to bring events to Akwa Ibom State. The stadium has a seating capacity of
over 30,000 and ability to disperse over 35,000 people within five minutes. The
VIP stand is bullet proof with more than 250 seating capacity. The stadium even
has a banquet hall that can be used for seminars. This means that the stadium
is designed to generate revenue all year round; and not only during sporting
events. Other features of the stadium include:
1. Multi
purpose layout with running tracks
2. 2-tier
seating arrangement with excellent views
3. Arena
with football pitch, 8-lane 400metre standard track, and other sports
facilities in other segments of the field
4. International
standard access and exit systems
5. Emergency
routes allowing for evacuation time of about five minutes (thus complying with
international safety requirements)
6. Equipped
with three video boards under the roof.
William Shakespeare, 16th century playwright and social
commentator of all times coined a metaphor that describes the Uncommon
Transformation Agenda of Governor Akpabio: “A good wine needs no bush.” In old
English society wine sellers displayed a bunch of leaves (bush) by their wine
shops which served as advertisement. Shakespeare’s point of the metaphor was
that a good wine advertised itself and did not need any displays of leaves. The
works of Akpabio speak for themselves. It only takes a visit to the state for
the uncommon transformation to hit you like a thunderbolt. Even if you have
good personal reasons to dislike Akpabio as an individual, you cannot help but
love the work of uncommon transformation he has achieved in Akwa Ibom State. It
is no wonder that different persons from different backgrounds praise him to
the high heavens. Respected religious leaders (Christians and Muslims, plus
traditional religion practitioners) have eulogized Akpabio based on his uncommon
transformation of Akwa Ibom State. His fellow politicians, serving and retired
have acknowledged him as the man with the Midas touch for infrastructural
development. He has not only invested in physical infrastructure, but he has
also invested in mental and intellectual infrastructure. When he invested in
building schools, he also invested in employing and training qualified teachers.
He not only declared free education, he also put a law in place to enforce it
so that it becomes a crime punishable by the law for any child of school age to
be anywhere else but in school during school hours. To ensure that all pretenses for levying school children by school heads are removed, he pays
logistics fees to school heads for every child in school. Akwa Ibom State has
ceased to be the factory of house girls and houseboys. Even those who had
entered into voluntary or forced slavery have been recalled home and government
has graciously provided a home and family for those of them without any. What else can a people ask of in a serving
governor and how else can a serving governor show that truly, he is not
playing politics with the future of his people?
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