The state-of-art Mother and Child Hospital, located in Ibadan, Oyo State, has yet to begin operation, more than two years after it was commissioned. As the citizens of Abonde and other communities where the project is located groan due to lack of basic health facilities, our correspondent writes on the fate of the fully equipped multibillion naira hospital designed to complement the services of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, reports Nigerian Tribune.
A 100-bed health facility christened Muhammadu Buhari Mother-Child Hospital located in the heart of the ancient city of Ibadan, precisely Abonde community in Ona Ara local government area, has remained under lock and key since it was commissioned in 2023. To underscore the importance attached to the facility then, it was commissioned by former Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo amidst enthusiasm among the populace.
The hospital is one of the Mother-Child hospitals approved for the six geo-political zones in the country by the immediate past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
A former Senate leader and 2023 governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Teslim Folarin, facilitated its location in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The project, as its name implies, Mother-Child hospital is aimed at reducing the mother-child mortality rate, as well as make medicare accessible to people in the outer local government areas of Ibadan.
To further achieve the purposes it is meant to serve, the two-storey hospital with four blocks of eight flats for resident doctors is tastefully equipped with the state-of-art equipment comparable to the standard of any teaching hospital in the country.
Besides, there is no issue about the source of a regular power supply. The hospital has 159 KVA Solar mini grid to prevent cases of epileptic power supply, just as there are modern communication gadgets, air-conditioned consultation rooms, private and general wards.
However, despite the provision of all the basic infrastructure, facilities and accommodation for medical personnel, the hospital appears abandoned to the chagrin of the citizens, who had with zeal and enthusiasm trooped out on the day it was commissioned. The state of inertia has raised serious concerns and posers among the stakeholders, who thought the location of the hospital would bring succour to them due to the absence of access to reliable and functional health facilities.
What could be responsible for the present state of the hospital? Was the initial high hopes of the people misplaced going by the fate of the health facility? What is the essence of a literally well-trained dog that cannot bark?
Of what use are the medical equipment that is not being put to use for the benefits of stakeholders long after the project was completed and commissioned? What about the huge cost of putting the structure in place and equipping it? Was it for fun and window dressing?
These and many other questions are agitating the minds of the stakeholders who have almost become despondent on the cardinal aim and objectives of the project. In fact, there are fears that reptiles and rodents could cause havoc to the facilities having been abandoned by the various authorities.
One of the most worried by the abandoned Grade A facility is facilitator, Senator Teslin Folarin. He spoke through one of his brothers, Mr. Yinka Folarin, who regretted that several attempts have been made for the University College Hospital to take over the management of the hospital.
Ironically, the project is designed to complement the medical services of UCH, the foremost teaching hospital in the country that has been reeling from a lot of challenges in the last few years.
Speaking further on the precarious state of the Mother-Child hospital, Yinka lamented: “The project is designed to complement the efforts of the UCH in the area of primary healthcare service delivery to the people in the outer city of Ibadan.
“If the hospital is fully operational, people from Ona-Ara, Oluyole and Egbeda local government areas will no longer travel long distances to Oritamefa to seek medicare.
“It will ensure strict compliance with the World Health Organisation (WHO) standard of medicare as patients in the neighborhood will have unfettered access to the medical practitioners.
“The federal government, through the Federal Ministry of Health, has raised our hopes that the management of the hospital will be taken over by the UCH.
“The management of the UCH were with the former vice president on the day of commissioning of the project.”
Findings indicate that the stakeholders had also taken certain steps to reach out to the authorities on the need to put the facility into use, especially given the challenges facing the citizens in the various communities.
It was learnt that several letters have been written to this effect. However, so far, there is no concrete evidence that the authorities are prepared to do the needful.
Almost in a near despondency in the face of the abandonment of the facility, Folarin said: “The hospital cannot be left this way. The multimillion-naira medical facilities cannot be turned to waste. We are thankful to the people in the neighborhood who are keeping watch over the hospital.
“I am still planning to have meetings with the management of the UCH on the next steps to be taken.”
Another stakeholder in the area deeply worried about the neglect of the project is a 49-year-old woman, who simply identifies herself as Sidikatu. She expressed her serious concern such a project could be left unused after it was completed years ago. According to her, the people in the neighbourhood can hardly believe that the hospital will not be operating two years after it was official commissioned by the former Vice President. “Though I have not had the opportunity to enter the premises, we were told that some of the hospitals in the town cannot boast the kind of the medical equipment in the Mother-Child hospital.
“We thought that the location of the hospital in the neighborhood would ease the burden of people needing medical care travelling down to Oritamefa or State Hospital at Ring Road, but it is the other way round.
“The multibillion-naira medical equipment in the hospital will soon expire without being put to use. If this is allowed to happen, will it not amount to another wastage of taxpayers money?
“If the UCH is not ready to take over the hospital, the state government should apply to the Federal Ministry of Health by making its intention to take over it known.
“This project is all about the healthcare of the people in the state,” she said.
Another stakeholder, who happens to be a medical practitioner, but who craved anonymity, also alleged partisanship on issues surrounding the current fate of the Mother-Child Hospital. According to him, “It is because Mr A is the one who facilitated it; we will not allow it to work because he doesn’t belong to our camp. This is exactly what is happening to the project. Politicians should note that everything has an expiry date. When you spend one term or complete two terms in office, you will leave one day.
“My appeal is that President Bola Tinubu should mandate the Federal Ministry of Health to facilitate the handover of the hospital to the UCH. If the UCH is not ready, the private sector should take over its management. What the stakeholders are after is effective service delivery.”
Meanwhile, the management of the UCH has attributed the delay in taking over the hospital to staffing.
Its Public Relations Officer, Mrs Funmilayo Enitan, in a conversation with our correspondent said the UCH is shortstaffed, thereby making it difficult to deploy personnel to the hospital.
According to her, “most of our medical personnel have left and are abroad in search for greener pasture.
“We are recruiting personnel to fill up vacant positions in the hospital. We are appealing to the public to kindly bear with us. When the situation improves, medical doctors will be deployed. We have three of such hospitals in Oyo State. Aside the 100-bed hospital in Ona-Ara, there are 80 beds and 40 beds in Ogbomoso and Ago-Are, respectively.”
