- Justifies decision
Abia State governor, Alex Otti, has explained why he immortalised the late Human Rights and pro-democracy activist, Comrade Chima Ubani, by the naming of a hospital after the deceased.
Otti, who named the newly-completed 80-bed Obingwa General Hospital, near Aba, after Chima Ubani, said it is an honour to encourage courage and justice.
Born in 1964, Chima Ubani died in a car accident with Tunji Oyeleru (The Vanguard newspaper Photo Editor) on September 21, 2005, in Potiskum. He was 42 years old.
They were returning from a rally in Maiduguri to another at Yola, as part of a series of demonstrations against some government policies. The rally was organised by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the then emerging Joint Action Forum of pro-working class civil society organisations, which together made up the Labour Civil Society Coalition (LASCO).
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Otti explained that the naming was a tribute to Chima’s courage, compassion and lifelong commitment to justice, democracy and the welfare of ordinary Nigerians, saying that the late human rights activist actually fought for a better society.
Speaking at the commissioning of the newly-remodeled, digitally equipped hospital in Mgboko, Obingwa LGA, Governor Otti recalled Ubani’s role as a pro-democracy campaigner, Students’ Union President at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), and Executive Director of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO).
Otti described Chima as “a mentor of the masses and one who died in pursuit of the very ideals that he lived for.”
He affirmed that the honour was intended not only to preserve Ubani’s memory, but also to inspire present and future generations to live lives of courage, service and integrity; even as he assured that his administration would continue to support the family of the late activist and collaborate with medical professionals and other stakeholders to strengthen healthcare delivery in Abia.
On the newly commissioned hospital, the governor maintained that the provision of healthcare will remain central to his administration’s developmental agenda and observed that investments in the sector are aimed at restoring confidence in public health institutions as well as saving lives, particularly those of mothers and newborn babies.
According to him, the new facility will expand access to quality medical services for hundreds of thousands of residents in Obingwa and neighbouring communities, stressing that its strategic location would also serve people from Aba, Osisioma and other adjoining areas.
The governor expressed satisfaction with the hospital’s modern features, which include a healing garden, technology-driven data management, real-time inter-facility collaboration, technology-assisted laboratory and scan analysis, a well-equipped theatre and eye care units, observation rooms, and a renewable energy system designed to support uninterrupted power supply.
He said: “We have reached a new milestone in the effort to modernise our health institutions to reflect the spirit of this age. This facility should remain open every night and day. It operates for 24 hours a day, Saturdays and Sundays inclusive.
“Whoever comes here for medical reasons must receive the attention and support they need, whatever their social or economic conditions.”
Otti further stated that he was pleased that community leaders have been incorporated to ensure that the facility remains protected. He therefore cautioned vandals against vandalising the hospital.
In their speeches, the Senator representing Abia South, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, and the Labour Party State Chairman, Hon. Peter Azubuike, thanked the governor for renovating the hospital.
They also commended him for building other transformational projects in Obingwa LGA and assured him that the people would vote overwhelmingly for him and the Labour Party in 2027.
In his welcome address, the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Enoch Ogbonnaya Uche, stated that the 80-bed general hospital is a demonstration that Governor Otti is building a future-ready healthcare system in Abia State.
According to him, within three years in office, the governor has carried out a total of 301 infrastructural projects in health, with 277 Primary Health Centres being built and equipped to the standard set by him, as he described the facility as a digital hospital and one that women in labour at various PHCs can be linked to.
In his remarks, the Chairman of a non-governmental organisation known as ‘Save A Life’, Dr. Richard Okoye, explained that the group is partnering with Abia State because of the visionary leadership of Governor Otti.
He pointed out that Abia would soon record the highest life expectancy in the whole of West Africa due to the governor’s investment in the health sector.