Imagine him chopping wood with an axe.  Imagine him also shirtless, barefoot, a climbing robe “akpi” on his left shoulder and a machete in his right hand, dividing the bush and heading for the nearest palm tree to cut down the ripe fruits for sale, so he and his family could eat.

Imagine him again taking bamboos from the raffia palm and carefully weaving the traditional bamboo bed – “okpukpo,” (agada in some dialet)  also to make a living. Finally, see him riding an old bicycle from his home at Umueme, Uzagba, in Ikeduru local government, to Mbaise to go to college.

That’s the life of Dr Joe Obi-Njoku, as a young man, growing up, with eight siblings and a widowed mum. The man who now occupies the top office at the Ministry of Health was formerly a school teacher, then a medical doctor, local Government chairman and, now, Commissioner of Health. But that elevation didn’t come without much sweat.

To some people, he is a “nice and amiable man”. But to some others, especially those healthcare workers whose salaries have not been paid for over five months, he is  “wicked and selfish like all politicians.”

Either way, however, Dr Obi-Njoku has more friends than foes, admirers than critics, encouragers than detractor. For one, it doesn’t take aeons to see him at his big office, as most politicians and there is no fanfare around him. He is simple, unassuming and seemingly genuine. He looks like someone who has come to work as opposed to “come to steal,” like most of our politicians.  Although looks can deceive, the doctor’s community activities over the years and grassroots involvement are exemplary.  He lives in his community, runs a clinic there and helps resolve major conflicts.

“I have been in community service for long. I have one philosophy, creation is a design; not an accident.  Wherever you’re born is your place of primary assignment and whatever you do, you do there and that is where your achievements and activities will be best noticed and that is why since I graduated from the university, I’ve lived in my village. I have lived and served in that village,” said the father of six.

“Even as a medical doctor, I started my clinic there and I have maintained that clinic, not minding that I have a bigger clinic in Owerri, to make sure I meet up with the motto of the university where I was trained – knowledge for service. That’s the motto of the University of Benin. I live there to serve. I got involved with other activities of the community to keep up with development trends, helping to keep the peace, helping to lead the people to appreciate the values of society. In so doing, I ventured into politics – because once you are doing something and people are appreciating, they will say, ‘come and represent us’. That is how I came to what I am today.”

Today, he is a commissioner of health. As a medical practitioner and chief health scribe, he is evidently at home. But no one who goes to any hospital in Imo is likely going to clap for him, worse still if they visit the embattled Imo specialist Hospital at Umuguma, where Government seems to be playing Russian roulette with itself. Patients and staff of the Orlu Teaching Hospital are also not jumping up or clapping for the commissioner either.  Everybody is complaining.

Even so, the Commissioner and his government are barely two years on the job and could not be blamed for all the problems. Truly, they cannot be expected to clear up all the mess that has accumulated in the sector for years. Even if the Government builds a hospital everywhere it has built a hotel; the rescue mission would still not have worked enough miracles in two years to revive moribund institutions. But the people know when Government is working and when it’s talking.

The Commissioner insists that the rescue mission is doing a good job, however. It is building 27 new general hospitals and the old ones, too expensive to refurbish according to him, are being given out to private concerns.

“We have been doing our best. We are on a rescue mission, trying to make things better. Prior to our coming, the health sector was moribund. We’re building 27 new general hospitals in the state. We are building a diagnostic centre that will stop the capital flight in the name of medical tourism. The diagnostic centre will enable accurate diagnosis of diseases. It will have such equipment as MRI, CT scan, ultra sound, X-rays, mammography, which you need to make accurate diagnosis.

“The old hospitals are still there; they won’t meet the standards of health sector improvement we want. We want to make Imo the health care destination for Nigerians… the old ones are in such a deplorable state that it will mean a great loss of expenditure to bring them to the standard we want. We are not discontinuing them; we are concessioning them out to private management while the new ones will key into abroad ideas about health sector improvement,” he explained.

The Commissioner admitted that all is not well at the specialist hospital but it’s only for a time.

“We are putting the specialist hospital together and it will not mature overnight. It was moribund before but we are reactivating it. At least today, it is admitting patients. Yes, the nurses are being paid even though there is a backlog.  Regarding the collapsed facility, we have rehabilitated it. There was a wind storm that removed it but we have rehabilitated it – that’s a natural disaster,” he added.

The urologist insisted that the health care sector is a lot better today than before. I believe him but whether patients are seeing a change is a different kettle of fish.

“What we want to do is to make Imo a health care destination. For us to think like that means that we have a focus in mind. We are building this 27 general hospitals … we are building medical cold stores to ensure that everything that is required is in place. We are also going to build pharmaceutical warehouses to ensure that drugs that are brought here are wholesome. When these things come into effect, we are sure the health centre here will be second to none in this country,” the commissioner promised.

Comments

comments