By Jethro Ibileke
Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo has said that he has no regret demolishing and converting the State Central Hospital, in Benin to a museum.
He state this on Wednesday, at the commissioning of reconstructed Edo State College of Health Science and Technology (EDOCOHEST).
Recall that the over 100 year-old tertiary health institution was brought down in 2022.
He said: “I had to bring down Central Hospital and I have no regrets bringing it down and in place of Central Hospital we have over 10 primary health centre serving the population one Hospital used to serve.
“Nigeria has more than 12,000 political wards and in the policy is that there must a minimum of one health centre in each ward so that if you are sick you will not have to travelled far or spend more than 15 to 20 minutes before you get to a healthcare center in your community for treatment. That is what we are doing in Edo state.
“With the almost 200 wards in Edo, if we have to employ an average of 101 health workers in a primary health center, we need minimum of 2000 and where do we have to train them? No where. In Nigeria we need over 250,000 health workers for our primary healthcare system.”
He further explained why he decided to refurbish health institutions in the state.
“It was Covid-19 that opened his eyes to state of healthcare in Edo State and Nigeria. and what make me scared about Covid was not the Covid itself, but our ability to respond to pandemic.
“I was with a friend during Covid-19 and I said if something happened now, we can’t leave Nigeria with all the wealth and the plans that we have for treatment.
“The lesson I learnt from the Covid-19 is that we must build our own healthcare system and healthcare is not only hospital, infrastructure.
“While sick, it is a system that the most important thing is the people who must be trained to deliver service to the people and our school of nurses and college of health science were closed down and no accreditation.
“In 2020, I then said if God made me survive I will refurbished all health institution in the state.”
He stated further: “Yes we need doctors, but after doctors have attended to you, who does the doctors leave to, it is the nurses and pharmacist and the doctors will not do the work alone.
“Just as it is important to train a doctor so it is important to train other health workers so that we don’t have to travel abroad to get treatment.
“What are doing is very important and lets stop thinking that our solution will only comes from the top, but it would come from the middle and the bottom
“So the student who have been given admission to the institution would be trained to the highest quality because the facilities in this institution are better than the ones in many universities.”
“So, today, when I look back and see the opportunity that we have created for the young people, I have no regret and if I have to continue to fight for the interest and the betterment of young people I will do that.
“The school has world class facility. This campus has free internet, wifi and electricity and the selection process was by merit,” he disclosed.