By Tony Adibe
As electioneering gathers momentum for the 2027 general elections in Nigeria, the massive votes of the electorate in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State would go to President Bola Tinubu and Governor Peter Mbah as a show of gratitude to them.
Chairman of the Nsukka Local Government Area, Engr. Jude Asogwa said this while fielding questions from journalists who were on tour of key projects in the area -one of them the Type 2 Primary Health Care Centre (TPHC), Ihe, Nsukka, built by the Governor Mba-led administration. Engr. Asogwa said that the people of Nsukka would not forget in a hurry the good things they have benefited from both the President Tinubu-led federal government and Governor Mbah at the state level.
Specifically recounting some of the benefits, he said, Nsukka people have received from the federal government under President Tinubu, Engr. Asogwa said that for 65 consecutive years, no Nsukka man had been the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) until His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, took over the mantle of Nigeria’s leadership. The UNN, Nigeria’s premier indigenous university, is located in Nsukka, and the current Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Simon Ortuanya, is an indigene of Nsukka.
“As I talk now, Nsukka man is the military Secretary in the whole federation. The just-retired Chief of Naval Staff, Ogala, is an Nsukka man. So, we can’t thank President Bola Tinubu enough. There is a mega Highway coming from Obollo, crossing Opi and moving up to Enugu. That’s courtesy of Mr. President. And that’s why Nsukka people have taken a decision that, come 2027, we are going to show gratitude to the President and the most performing governor in the whole federation, His Excellency, Barrister Peter Ndubuisi Mbah,” Asogwa said.
Outlining the democratic dividends, he said his Nsukka people have gotten from the state government, Asogwa listed the Type 2 Primary Health Centre at Ihe ward which, he said, is being replicated in the whole 20 wards within the entire Nsukka council area; the 20 Smart Green Schools built in Nsukka. “I will tell you that all our Type2 Hospitals in Nsukka are almost 90% functional. In fact, in two weeks, we will invite you, people. What His Excellency, Governor Mbah, is doing in Nsukka is marvellous,” said the Council Chairman.
Asogwa said that before coming to welcome the journalists at the hospital, he was at Opi to receive furniture and other laboratory equipment for the Smart Green School, adding that Nsukka alone has 20 Smart Green Schools while Governor Mbah “has also given school uniforms to some Smart Schools at Nru and Nkpunanu wards.” uniforms.”
He said that each Smart Green School would “contain 86 computers”, noting that “we are taking delivery of all that equipment.” He said that “there’s pressure on us to make sure that we tidy up with the contractors because the 20 contractors working in Nsukka LGA have all been paid by His Excellency.”
Asogwa further listed the ongoing expansion and straightening of the dual carriage 44.3kilomtre Ugwuogo Nike-Opi-Nsukka dual carriage road; the Enyiuchi Road, Mechanic Village Road, Ugwuachara Road and the road leading to Government Technical College (GTC), Nsukka, which he said, ‘’has been measured’’ for possible construction/rehabilitation work as benefits.
On health benefits, the Council chairman said there was no reason under the sun why hospitals in Nsukka – be it public or private – should lack oxygen machines in their facility as Governor Mbah had installed a N1 billion oxygen plant at Nsukka General Hospital.
According to Asogwa, while Mbah is doing the Type2 Primary Healthcare Hospital, he is also trying to upgrade the General Hospital. The Council boss recalled how Mbah had promised that “they are bringing MIR machine to SUMAC Igboanu Teaching Hospital, Nsukka.”
Journalists were taken around the hospital and its various units. The Officer in Charge of the hospital, Ngozi Blessing Attah, said the facility has been functional in the last month. Attah said that although the hospital has not recorded any child deliveries so far, they needed more hands in the area of nursing, adding that the present five health workers are not enough.
“We have solar power. We have water, but we need generator to power the pumping machine to drill water from the borehole. We have a resident doctor here. His residence is the bungalow at the back of this hospital. We have five health workers, but we need more hands to function in full capacity in the area of nursing,” according to Attah.
She said the services rendered at the hospital included antenatal and delivery; management of childhood diseases; laboratory and pharmaceutical services; medical-surgical and consultation; health education promotion; family planning, immunization, among others.
One of the key government officials, however, took time to explain the Type 2 Healthcare Hospital and why the government is addressing it.
“I told you when we came here sometime last week that when we came, we saw that the Primary healthcare sector was in a real coma. So, what we did was address the Primary Healthcare Sector totally. And then we went ahead and addressed the tertiary health care sector. The Primary Healthcare sector facilities here had then outlived their usefulness and their lifespan. So, what we did to most of them: I am going to give you the statistics. So, what we now did was, instead of doing Type 1, we did Type 2 so that several of the health challenges that should be handled by Secondary Health Care would be handled here also.
“And of course, we went ahead to address the tertiary Healthcare. The idea is if you do enough work at the Primary level and tertiary level, you would have taken up a whole lot of the chunk of the work that would be done by the Secondary HealthCare. So currently, we are now doing the Secondary HealthCare,” he said.
