•Governor Umo Eno
…From The Editor-in-Chief
It is often said that vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others. In Akwa Ibom State, we are currently living through such a moment.
In the Health Sector, just as in the broader sectors of tourism, aviation, infrastructure, rural development, agro-mechanisation, transportation, education, entrepreneurship and humanitarian services, the Administration of Governor Umo Eno is certainly a defining moment for a subnational that is fast emerging as the Lion of the Atlantic.
In this edition of API, which is focussed on the accomplishments on Umo Eno’s ARISE Agenda in the Health Sector, we, in the Editorial Board, have decided to sit back a little bit and allow facts, figures, images and medical experts, at national and international levels, to speak for the Administration and interpret for the general public what the mega medicare venture in Akwa Ibom actually looks like and what they portend for our country, Nigeria, and beyond.
You will read in this Edition eyewitness breakdown by international medical professionals, such as Professor Mohammed Ali Pate, a very respected global voice on medicare, hitherto the Global Director for Health, Nutrition, and Population at the World Bank; a Professor of Public Health Leadership at Harvard University, USA, and now, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare in Nigeria.
You will also read about the on-the-spot account of Dr. Abdu Mukhtar, the National Coordinator of the Presidential Initiative for unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (Pvac), who was until recently the Director of the African Development Bank, AfDB, in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
At the same time, you will as well read in this edition, what Professor Ernest Omoti, the National President of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, and Professor Danladi Bojude, the Secretary General of the Nigeria Cancer Society, NCS, have got to say about the forays of Governor Eno in the medicare terrain.
I have personally heard many outsiders who employed words and phrases such as “amazing, mind-blowing, world-class and worthy of emulation”, to describe not just the Healthcare Sector in Akwa Ibom but other projects and programmes of ARISE Agenda.
In just three years, Governor Eno has moved beyond the traditional rhetoric of governance to plant the seeds of a medical ecosystem so vast and audacious it “bestrides 100 football fields like a colossus.” Spanning five Local Government Areas, the Ibom Medical City is not merely a hospital — it is a comprehensive, world-class sanctuary for healing, research, innovation and manufacturing.
You will discover also in this edition that contrary to legitimate concerns about the existing Ibom Specialists Hospital, Governor Eno has also invested humongous amount of money in 2025 and 2026, advancing further into the second phase of the Ibom Specialist Hospital, to make it not just a part of Ibom Medical City but “the second anchor tenant” for the Ibom Medical City project, while the 350-bed, 10-floor Ibom International Hospital emerges as the main anchor tenant of the medical city. It is simply unprecedented.
As you read our cover story on this “Mega-Project,” in the centrepread of this edition, you will discover a governor who is bravely “connecting the dots” between infrastructure and human dignity. From the ten-story Ibom International Hospital — poised to house Africa’s first robotic Cath Labs and intraoperative MRIs — to the Senior Citizens Centre, which already stands as a testament to his commitment to the elderly, the scale of the project is breathtaking.
This isn’t just about brick and mortar; it is about reversing the $2 billion annual drain of medical tourism and reclaiming Nigeria’s place as a hub for excellence.
When the Minister of Health, Professor Pate, describes the Ibom Medical City as an “amazing vision” that “shows the way to all other states,” it confirms that Akwa Ibom State is under the stewardship of a leader with a “lion’s heart.”
Governor Eno reminds us that he came to serve, “one building block after another”. In the Ibom Medical City, those blocks are certainly forming a foundation for a healthier, more prosperous future, with loads of low-hanging fruits for the Akwa Ibom and indeed Nigeria.
I invite you to journey with us through this special edition as we document the rise of a medical marvel that every Akwa Ibom citizen, nay, Nigerian should be proud of.
This is the story of a big thinker and a big doer; the epiphany of a lion heart with a lion share.
*Anietie Usen is the Editor-in-Chief of API, the former General Editor of NEWSWATCH Magazine, former Regional Editor (West Africa) of the London-based AFRICA TODAY, former Board Member, THISDAY Editorial Board, Multiple Award Winning Journalist, Author of Best Seller books: VILLAGE BOY & AUDACIOUS JOURNALISM, Nominee, Nigerian Prize For Literature, Winner, UNESCO Book Club Award, Fellow, THOMPSON REUTERS Foundation, UK; Fellow, Nigerian Institute of Management, FNIM, etc.
