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Tag: health centre

  • Rotary Onigbogbo donates to health centre

    Rotary Club, Onigbogbo has donated some items to the health centre in Onigbogbo, Lagos State. Items donated included mosquito nets, vaccines, fridge, plastic chairs, pillow cases and a scale for weighing.

    Making the presentation, the club’s President, Olajide Ajayi, said the aim was to augment what the government allocates to the health centre, adding that it would help boost its service delivery.

    Rotary International District 9110 Governor, Dr. Jide Akeredolu, said the materials were donated by the club members who tasked themselves. He said before such presentations, the club would have done needs assessment to enable it know what a particular community  needs. He thanked the club for focusing on one of the major areas of Rotary, which is healthcare provision.

    He advised nursing mothers to ensure that their children were immunised, warning them that some physically challenged have the problem because they were not immunised when they were babies, which exposed them to polio. Dr. Akeredolu announced that Nigeria had been declared free of polio, a deadly disease that Rotary has been fighting to eradicate over the years, advising all mothers to continue to embrace immunisation to avoid a recurrence.

    In her response, Mrs. Abioye Ayodele, a staff nurse/midwife, who represented the head of the health centre, Dr. Folashade Tawak, thanked Rotary Club for its gesture.

    also during a visit by the Rotary team to the regent of Onigbogbo, High Chief Tajudeen Ajao Irawo, the monarch praised the club for its humanitarian efforts.  “All Rotary clubs are good, but that of Onigbogbo is very good,” he said.

  • Who vandalised Osun Poly’s Health Centre?

    Who vandalised the Osun Polytechnic Health Centre at Iree in Boripe Local Government Area of Osun State? The school is accusing the students, who strongly deny the allegation. But the students are blaming the centre for the death of their colleague in the facility, ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMLA and LAWAL SODIQUE OLAYINKA report:

    The sudden death of Shehu Aminu, in Osun State Polytechnic, Iree, is generating heat. The school and students are bandying words over the incident.

    A week ago, the institution’s medical centre was vandalised in the wake of Aminu’s death. A worker, who asked not to be named, said management spent additional N10 million to acquire more facilities for the centre.

    Until his death, Aminu was a Higher National Diploma (HND) student of the Department of Food Science and Technology. The deceased reportedly slumped in the examination hall.

    The management and students are giving conflicting accounts of his  death.  The Students’ Union (SU) has absolved its members of  vandalising the centre as alleged by the management. Its President, Comrade Bolaji Olaniyi Ezekiel told CAMPUSLIFE that some hoodlums took advantage of the peaceful protest organised by the students to do the havoc.

    Although the management said it started the Tertiary Institutions Students Health Insurance Programme (TISHIP) in 2007 and that students have been paying the mandatory N2,000 yearly, in accordance with the guidelines on TISHIP implementation,  checks by CAMPUSLIFE showed that the school also imposed sundry fees, such as the compulsory N1,000 medical examination fee, as well as ‘T-Shape Fee (the school’s general medical fee) of N2,000 each year making a total of N5,000 medical fees per session.

    CAMPUSLIFE findings further revealed that while students are angry over the outrageous medical fee, which they said is not commensurate with services rendered, they put the blame at the doorstep of the SU for instigating a protest at a time tempers were high and exam was just two days to wrap up.

    Students who spoke to CAMPUSLIFE revealed the undercurrents between the leadership of the SU and the led. They blamed the students’ representatives for not being calculative. According to them, the Departments of Food Science and Technology, where Aminu was once a student, is one of the notorious department in OSPOLY.  Besides, the department, CAMPUSLIFE learned, has been in a running battle with Olaniyi-led SU for his administration’s failure to prevent the management of OSPOLY from slamming sundry charges on students in the name of medical fee. So when Olaniyi chose the option of a protest, after Aminu’s death, his adversaries saw an opportunity to get back at him by hijacking the protest and turning everything upside down.

    As at the time of this report, the management of the institution is still  the loss at the facility, which a source in the management unofficially put at about N150 million.

    There are also arguments about the exact venue where Shehu died. While the management claimed that Shehu died when he was being rushed from the school clinic to another hospital; students claimed that he was already dead at the school Medical Centre due to negligence of the health officials on duty.

    When CAMPUSLIFE visited the school at the weekend to assess the situation, the Medical Centre was in a sorry state. Aside the wreck, which the facility has become, there were also broken windows, doors and vandalised equipment. Littering the floor were rumpled old and new files used for keeping patients’ records. There were also broken doors, torn or punctured roofs and empty wardrobes. Smoke was yet coming out from the torched building, which obviously was in complete ruins. It would require a comprehensive rehabilitation to get it back to its former state

    Checks by CAMPUSLIFE revealed that the attack on the medical facility might have come as a result of bottled up emotions trailing series of students’ complaints that have remained unresolved. Students, who felt bad about the loss of their colleague, are accusing the school’s health officials of their indifference attitude to patients, an allegation the management has denied.

    Students’ complaints, it was discovered, ranged from wrong diagnoses and prescriptions.  This is in addition to the fact that most times, students buy drugs at pharmaceutical stores outside the campus as a result of non availability of drugs at the school clinic.

     

    Students are culpable, management insists

    But the school’s management  insisted that workers at the clinic did their best to save the deceased when he was rushed to the clinic.

    Spokesperson of the institution, Mr Tope Abiola, told CAMPUSLIFE that workers at the health centre did their best when the deceased was brought into the clinic.

    Abiola, who spoke with CAMPUSLIFE, recounted that Aminu was already at the point of death upon his arrival at the clinic. “It was unfortunate that he collapsed in the examination hall because he was exhausted, possibly because of the ongoing Ramadan fasting at the time, which might have reduced the level of glucose in his system,” Abiola said.

    He continued:“He was later referred to another hospital, but unfortunately, he gave up the ghost on the way.

    Abiola said aggrieved students, who live off campus, stormed the school, armed with dangerous weapons the following day.

    “His death later caused pandemonium in the town. Students trooped out as early as 6:00 a.m. the following day, brandishing dangerous weapons, and singing war songs round the town. This suddenly made the inhabitants of the town to run for cover.

    “By 7:00 a.m. the irate students, in their thousands, marched to the campus to perpetrate the dastardly act. They sacked the security of the school and stormed the newly renovated Health Centre stocked with drugs and state-of-the-art equipment, carting away some of the medical equipment.

     

    Students: we’re not

    The Students’ Union leader, Comrade Bolaji Olaniyi Ezekiel, popularly known as “HOPE”, blamed the school clinic for failing to attend to the victim promptly.

    Ezekiel told CAMPUSLIFE that although a peaceful protest was organised in front of the school gate to express their grievances, he was not aware how some miscreants invaded the school from the rear and attacked the Health Centre.

    “You would recall that on Friday May 31, Shehu Aminu, a student of Applied Chemistry HND1 fainted after writing his examination at a PLT2 Hall within the campus. Aminu was rushed to the school’s medical centre at about 4:45pm. To our surprise, we were informed that the medical centre had closed for the day and so the victim could not be attended to. However, he was later rushed to a nearby hospital on a motorcycle, but gave up the ghost before they got to the hospital.”

    “The Students’ Union immediately convened a peaceful protest to express displeasure over the situation. A part of our strategy was ensuring that security personnel were on ground. In spite of this effort, some individuals somehow still gained entrance through the many routes leading to the campus to perpetrate this nefarious and destructive acts.

    “While I was addressing the students outside the main gate on the need for a 24-hour medical service delivery and justice for Aminu, some group had led another to destroy the medical centre without the consent of the congress due to the lack of perimeter fence in the institution.

    “We wish to dissociate ourselves from the destructive actions exhibited by this uncouth, uncivilised and violent group of people. Permit me to state clearly that our demands were just for the Institution to operate another medical centre outside town that will commence operation from 4:00pm.”

    Similarly, the speaker of the Students’ Representative Council, Comrade Oyelakin Adedapo Sunday, condemned the destruction of public property. Nonetheless, he expressed regrets that the otherwise peaceful protest got out of hand.

     

    NANS factions clash

    Two factions of the  National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Osun State chapter, have equally waded into the matter, albeit with conflicting stances.

    While a faction led by Comrade Abdulmojeed Oladimeji Oyeniyi, condoled with the institution and condemned the students’ actions, the other faction led by Comrade Abidoye Omololu, a.k.a Castro, blamed the management and urged the police to carry out thorough investigation in order to fish out the perpetrators.

    “Following series of reports over this ugly scenario, our leadership has received both truth and fallacies of what transpired before and after the death of Aminu. However, it is imperative to note without any fear or favour that ‘an eye for an eye’ will only make the whole world go blind. We should also state that the era of aluta with gangsterism, hooliganism, and so on, is gone and this is the era where diplomacy, sincerity, and maturity should be embraced,” noted Oyeniyi.

    He continued: “Nigerian students are known as custodians of justice, but our zeal to get justice as and when due must be embedded in a spirit of patriotism, diplomacy, maturity and sincerity, without dragging ourselves in the mud.

    “Hence, I’m urging concerned Nigerian students to sheath swords and embrace peaceful dialogue at a crucial point like this, in order to avert a reoccurrence because we can never shy away from the fact that two wrongs can never make a right.”

    Nonetheless, Omololu’s countered Oyeniyi’s position, blaming the management on the shoddy manner it handled Aminu’s case. Omololu also said Oyeniyi lacks official capacity to speak on the matter.

    “As part of our campaign against indiscipline and hooliganism, we again call on Osun State Police  Command to, as a matter of responsibility, bring the perpetrators to book. More so, innocent students should not be punished.

    “However, the inability of the health workers to forestall Aminu’s death is nothing but a clearer evidence of extortion in the name of medical fee by the school. Or how do we interpret the scenario of a rejected patient where the health assistant meant to provide first aide at 4:00pm maintained closure for the day?

    “We call on the school management to, as a matter of necessity, investigate the medical staff on duty whose negligence we believe, orchestrated the ugly incidents, and befitting punishment should be meted out on them.”

    Management counts loss

    “This type of protest has never happened in the institution since its creation about 27 years ago. It is barbaric for students to perpetrate this type of evil. You all can see can see how they (students) looted the Health Centre, carted away items, vandalised the building and set ablaze facilities they could not carry,“ Abiola continued while counting the loss.

    “All files and records here in the centre were destroyed. How can you destroy your personal property? Those things the polytechnic use for their treatment are destroyed. This shows that the future of the country is bleak, if students that are being trained as leaders of tomorrow could resort to this type of odious activity. I am afraid of the future.”

    Abiola said the impressions that the clinic lacked personnel, drugs and equipment, are meant to tarnish the management and school’s reputation.

    Abiola said the institution began the Tertiary Institutions’ Social Health Insurance Programme (TISHIP) in 2017 and in accordance with the guidelines on its implementation, students are required to pay a fee of N2,000.00 which entitled them to free medical services at both the primary and secondary levels.

    According to Abiola, the school appointed a Health Maintenance Organisation (HMO), which  has been footing the bills of students that require secondary medical care in line with TISHIP policy.

    “To complement the primary care being provided by the Health Centre, a service agreement was reached with Labab Hospital, Inisha and Osogbo, for the provision of primary healthcare in emergency cases, which may occur after the close of work in the institution since we are non-residential,” he added.

     

    Conflicting tales

    Other students, who spoke with   CAMPUSLIFE, either chose not to mention their names or used only their first name for fear of victimisation.

    One of them, Olaposi Samuel (not real name), an HND 2 undergraduate of Mass Communication, condemned the vandalism by aggrieved students. “I am not also pleased at all. The students should have engaged in a peaceful protest and demanded for 24-hour working medical centre instead of this ugly action. Yet, the SUG president, who called for the protest, is to be blamed as well because he should not have called for the protest at such critical moment.

    Another student, who introduced himself as Oluwasegunfunmi, a Higher National Diploma 2 of Science Laboratory Technology (SLT), also blamed the student’s action, he, however, added that they should not be totally held culpable.

    “Such things are bound to happen in a school where management do not reckon with the yearnings of the students. I hope the school management has learnt some lessons from this horrible incident,” said Oluwasegunfunmi.

    “This is simply a step taken too far,” noted Ayobami, also a National Diploma Food Science and Technology undergraduate.

    “Shehu Aminu’s death is really painful and a great loss to us, but two wrongs cannot make a right. Now students would be charged to pay for damages and this may possibly lead to another trouble. May God console the family of the deceased,” Ayobami added.

    But another student justified the students’ action.  Lukman, a National Diploma student of Computer Science said: “What is the essence of a non-functioning medical centre that gives paracetamol only as drugs for all ailments? The medical personnel are harsh. They treat patients with disgust and complain a lot. Also, the troubles students go through while undergoing the compulsory  medical examination ahead of registration is too much.”

  • Relief as council renovates health centre

    Residents of Fugar community and its environs in Estako Central Local Government Area are heaving a sigh of relief. They had been difficult accessing quality health care service. But since the inauguration of the renovated comprehensive health centre in the locality, the situation has changed.

    What makes them happy about the health facility is the presence of a surgical theatre. As at last count, doctors at the health centre have performed 39 major and minor surgical operations. Before now, the residents used to travel to Auchi in Estako West Local Government Area or Irrua Specialist Hospital in Esan Central Local Government Area before they access quality health care until last month when the new council chairman, John Akigbhe, unveiled the newly renovated health centre.

    Akhigbe told reporters that he decided to focus on primary health care delivery because of the near death experience his sister had at the Irrua Specialist Hospital.

    The council chief said he rushed his sister to Irrua and she was revived with the use of oxygen gas.

    He said all the health centres in the locality were not functional when he was sworn in six months ago.

    His words: “My sister is alive today because she got good health care. I was shocked when doctors told me it was not the drugs I bought that saved her but the oxygen used to revive her.

    “I came back and decided to face the health sector. I did not look at the dilapidated building but to touch people’s lives by making them stop travelling to treat ailments such as malaria.

    “When I came in, the members of staff were not dedicated. They go to the market instead of being at the health centres. I changed their morale towards work by providing an enabling environment.

    “We now have a functional health centre. Some general hospitals do not have what we have here. Our theatre is well equipped. We provided drugs by giving contracts to major distributors. I know that if I provide the necessary tools, we will have people who are healthy. My goal is to make the hospital a referral centre and stop my people from going to Auchi or Irrua for health care.”

    Akhigbe, however, said he rejected a health centre that was renovated by the Edo State government at Ugbekpe-Ekperi because the contractor did shoddy jobs.

    He said he has asked officials of the Edo State government not to supply any equipment or furniture to the health centre until the contractor did a proper job.

    The health centre is one of the 20 health centres being renovated by the Edo State as a pilot project on the new face of primary health care delivery.

    But the council chief said what the contractor did was different from what the state government proposed to build.

    “I will not accept that job in my local government. We were told it was going to be a standard cottage hospital but the contractor is merely repainting the walls.

    “No toilets in the labour room. How could you take a woman in labour outside to urinate?  I have told them not to bring equipment to that place until the contractor did the right thing,” he said.

     

  • Airtel commended for donating medical supplies, drugs to health centre

    The Local Community Development Area (LCDA) Chairman of Ikorodu North Local Government, Hon. Banjo Adeola, has commended Airtel Nigeria for its donation of 14 hospital beds, seven steel-sitter chairs, dozens of plastic chairs and tables and drugs to Agbede Community Health Centre at Omolaiye Covenant Estate Phase 1, Ikorodu.

    The project was nominated by a student in the community, Gbenga Oshinaike, during the call to entry of Airtel Touching Lives season 4. Speaking at a brief ceremony to hand over the medical supplies to the clinic, Adeola, who was represented by his supervisory counsellor on health, Adewunmi Abiodun, said donations by Airtel to the health centre will go a long way in improving quality health care delivery to inhabitants of the community. “We are grateful to Airtel for providing us with these medical supplies. We pray that the company continue to flourish just as we hope that other corporate organisations will emulate this fine gesture,” he said.

    Baale of Agbede Omolaiye, Alhaji Shakiru Balogun, in the same vein, thanked Airtel for its donations. “I am really pleased with what Airtel has done for us in this community. We did not really expect these much from them. Through this health centre, Agbede Omolaiye won the best CDA in Lagos for 2017 and we are here today to witness another remarkable development on this project courtesy of Airtel Nigeria,” he said.

    Airtel Touching Lives has been a reality television show broadcast on satellite and terrestrial networks across the continent. Each season, the programme follows the journey of who are nominated by email, SMS, or letters. Airtel then provides tailor-made assistance to each of them.

    In the previous season, beneficiaries included the Centre for Disability, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) whose work was to help physically challenged individuals access life-improving aid. Other recipients of the Airtel Touching Lives assistance were Mr. Essien Obong, a mathematician and software engineer who had become blind from injuries inflicted on him by armed robbers. The current series of the programme, according to the Airtel, will feature another set of inspiring stories, everyday Nigerians who received much needed support from Airtel.

  • Church renovates health centre, donate equipment

    Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint yesterday completed the renovation and repairs of the dilapidated Comprehensive Health Centre, Azikoro-Epie, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

    The church members, comprising elders, women and children from various walks of life, arrived the health centre and its environs at about 8am, rolled their sleeves and commenced the last lap of their work.

    The members, who attracted the admiration and praises of the residents, came with loads of medical equipment and other materials for the health facility.

    They repainted the walls, mopped the floor, cleared the surroundings of weeds and vegetation and repaired the roofs of the facility.

    The Paramount Ruler of Azikoro-Epie, His Royal Highness Amandoko Clement, heaped encomiums on the church for its humanitarian efforts.

    He said the church came to salvage health centre and help residents and other neighbouring communities to get quality healthcare.

    He said: “This is not the first time that this church has done this. They took up the challenge that where they operate should not be left alone without showing their kindness.

    “They have set example for the other churches. I have not seen other churches come up like this to renovate the health centre, bring in equipment to assist, so this church has come to salvage the community and impact us positively. Other churches should emulate what they’re doing.

    “This is a good one, I commend them for their work and I will support them to ensure that they grow from grace to grace. I will talk to my people and encourage them to worship with them”.

    A senior member of the church and part-time Consultant with the Department of Community Medicine, Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital (NDUTH), Dr. Sawyer Ebiye, said the intervention was timely.

    The State President of the Church, Akekere Jonah, explained that the health centre was selected because of its strategic location and for being an affiliate of the Niger Delta University (NDU).

    He said the facility serves as a training ground for the medical students of the university’s Department of Community Medicine.

    He added that the need to take care of both the spiritual and physical health of the people motivated the church to undertake the project.

    The church leader explained that work on the facility started three weeks ago but that it was brought to its climax yesterday when the church donated medical equipment to the health centre.

    He asked the community to work with the health workers to ensure the sustainability of the equipment and the health centre.

    Providing more explanations, the Bishop of the Kpansia area of the church, Bishop Tano Agusomo, said: “We have renovated several other health centres in this Yenagoa. We renovated that of Amarata two years ago. We have also renovated that of Yenizue-Epie some three years back.

    “We have also worked to clean up the Diette Koki Memorial Hospital and several times we have cleaned up the Federal Medical Centre particularly the children’s ward”.

  • OUTRAGE …as abandoned health centre endangers 21 communities

    OUTRAGE …as abandoned health centre endangers 21 communities

    The journey started from Lagos. The objective was to understand the current status of primary health care (PHC) in respect of ante natal, child delivery and post-natal services for pregnant women in Ohunbe, a community in Ketu Local Council Development Area, Ogun State.

    Ordinarily, the 102-kilometre journey from Lagos to Ohunbe should take less than four hours by road. But it took more hours because of the appalling conditions of the roads.

    Ohunbe is essentially an agrarian community made up largely of peasant farmers and petty traders. It shares the same features with many other neighbouring villages that share border with the Republic of Benin.

     

    A tale of neglect

    Ohunbe Primacy Health Center was an answer to the prayers of thousands of women in the 21 communities in the area, who would benefit from the affordable and quality healthcare the PHC promised when it was established in 1976. However, as the years rolled by, rot set in. The dream of affordable and quality health care dimmed. Now, it is a mirage. Indeed, our reporter arrived at the facility under the scorching sun to meet the entrance door firmly locked.

    There are not enough words to describe the pathetic condition of the health centre. It is a metaphor for neglect, pains and abandonment. The health facility, which had been under lock and key for more than nine months before it was reopened in June, 2017, was locked up with a big padlock when our reporter visited on a sunny afternoon. It was the first indication that all was not well with the health facility.

    The situation naturally provokes the question: what happens in case of emergency in the village when there is need to attend to a patient? An enquiry our reporter made from one of the community’s elders, Pa Amos Olaleye, offered little as the octogenarian said the health officials at the clinic don’t.

    built for the community in 1976 and how a baby girl was the first to be born at the centre.

    According to Pa Olaleye, the centre was being run effectively in 1976 with patients coming from different communities for child delivery until neglect set in. Abandoned by the relevant authorities, he said, the condition of the health facility deteriorated to the extent that residents of the affected communities no longer patronise it and would rather seek treatment, including antenatal and child delivery services, at private clinics in the Republic of Benin.

    The implication, according to him, is that birth certificates for Nigerian babies are issued by clinics in Benin Republic, and such certificates bear the seal of the government of the Federal Republic of Benin.

    “Our wives in this community and 20 others are visiting Republic of Benin because our government has stopped bringing medicine to the centre. There is nowhere to take care of our children. We depend on the Republic of Benin,” he said.

    He lamented that the moribund health facility, which was meant to provide health care services to 20 other villages in the area, has a staff of one nurse and a volunteer health worker who had not been paid for two years.

    The villages that should benefit from the services of the now dilapidated primary health centre, according to Pa Olaleye, include Igbeme, Itakasi, Kobejo, Kobejo I, Kobejo II, Kobejo III, Abikanlu, Gbokoto and Pedepo. Others are Abule Idi, Obelle, Ibayun, Sawmill, Opata, Iyameta, Asa, Mosan, Alabata, Abepe and Igbodo.

    The octogenarian said the PHC, which was reopened in June, 2017, hardly has patients even when it is opened because the residents of the affected communities are used to going to the Republic of Benin for health care.

    “The workers do not live here. They live in another local government area that is very far from here. They go away after the close of work on Friday and come back on Sunday evening or Monday morning. So, if a patient goes to the clinic at the weekend, the place will be empty,” Pa Olaleye said.

    With the help of a guide named Sunday, our reporter visited many of the affected villages and spoke with some pregnant women and village heads who said the health centre was not being patronized because of its dilapidated condition and absence of medical personnel.

    Sunday, a school proprietor who doubled as an okada (commercial motorcycle) rider, took our reporter first to Ibayun where he met the village head, Chief Jimoh Atere. His pregnant wife, Deborah, explaining how she was taking care of herself in pregnancy, said she had not visited Ohunbe community Health Centre even though it is close to Ibayun village, because the centre was closed and there were no health workers to attend to patients.

    So, how did Deborah get antenatal care? “From a nearby private health centre,” she said.

    Complaining about the dilapidated state of the Ohunbe health centre, Chief Atere said: “Our people here don’t visit the health centre because of its pathetic state. And the reason they don’t go there is because government is not paying attention to the centre.”

    Simon Oladobe, Chief Atere’s friend, who was listening all the while, volunteered to take the reporter to his own village, Abule Idi. With Sunday, his guide, they rode on a motorcycle to Abule Idi, led Oladobe who rode on his own private motorcycle.

    After a fairly long ride through a dusty road, they finally arrived Abule Idi but only met the wife of the village head who said that her husband had gone to the farm. At Oladobe’s home, where there was neither electricity nor any social infrastructure, he lamented over what the villagers endure before having childbirth.

    “Our people don’t go to the health centre in Ohunbe for anything. It’s easier for us to go to Pobe in the Republic of Benin where they give us medicine and good health care services. None of my three children was born in Nigeria. They were all born in Benin Republic and their birth certificates were issued by the government of the Republic of Benin. In fact, their certificates are issued in French language,” he said.

    To convince the reporter that he meant every word, he asked his wife to fetch their children’s birth certificates whose contents the reporter could not digest because he does not speak French.

    At Obele, a border community with Benin Republic, the village head, Chief Lana Ogundipe, said the women of Obele had completely abandoned Ohunbe Health Centre because of its decrepit condition.

    He said: “We used to attend the Ohunbe clinic before, but we do not go there anymore because of its pathetic condition. The health centre in Ohunbe is dead. Women in Obele now go to Republic of Benin to be delivered of babies.”

    He also lamented the absence of basic amenities such as electricity, water, road and healthcare for the pregnant women who have to ride motorcycle to give birth in the Republic of Benin.

    “The politicians see us as villagers in the Republic of Benin. That is why they don’t care to give us amenities here. But when it is election period, they remember that we are Nigerians. Nothing is happening here”, Ogunlana said.

    He later led the reporter behind a building that served as his palace where the foundation of a health centre was laid by a former Military Administration of Ogun State, Daniel Akintonde, who had promised to build it between 1993 and 1999. Now the foundation is covered by weeds.

    At Igbemi village, one of the 15 villages the reporter visited, he met the community head, Alhaji Sanni Yekini, who also explained that women in his village had stopped visiting the Ohunbe health centre because the facility was in a state of utter neglect.

    He said: “As Nigerians, we are unhappy to give birth to our children in the Republic of Benin. My son cannot be proud of being born in Benin Republic. As a Nigerian, why should I give birth to my children in the Republic of Benin? But we lack all the basic amenities here. It is during elections that they remember that we exist. After getting what they need, they disappear.

    “During elections, I gather all my chiefs to educate the people on what to do to have their voter cards and vote for their choice candidates, because I have 11 communities under me.”

    At Igbeme, Kobejo, Ijoko, Abikanlu and Ita-Kasia, the story was the same. However, at Itakasia, we met a heavily pregnant woman named Titilayo Mosuro, who had trekked a long distance to fetch potable water for her family.

    Explaining what she had to endure to access antenatal care, she said she had never visited the Ohunbe Health Centre as she had been attending a private clinic at Oja Odan, a popular town frequented by people in the 21 villages.

    According to her, moving from Itakasia to Oja Odan is a pathetic experience, as she had to trek about two kilometres from Itakasia to reach the main road where she would board a motorbike to Oja Odan. That she had been doing in the last seven months.

    The village head, Chief Johnson Ayinla, who narrated the challenges pregnant women in the village faced, said: “Because of the long distance, before the women could reach the Ohunbe health facility, they would have been delivered prematurely on the road. So, the Republic of Benin has taken what belongs to Nigeria.

    “For our women to give birth, we have to spend huge sums to use their clinics. There are times that they don’t even give us the respect we deserve. Some of our women who cannot afford the cost of delivery at the clinics in the Republic of Benin have had to be delivered of their babies at home, using herbs.”

    At Ijoko, our reporter met a home-trained doctor, David Agbo, who hails from the Republic of Benin and serves as the village doctor. Agbo never attended a medical school but was trained as a medical practitioner at a private clinic in the Republic of Benin. He lives in Ijoko and attends to his patients from one room in the village. His clinic is named Pouvoir du Seigneur (Power of God).

    According to Agbo, the villagers believe in him to deliver genuine medical service to them, as he had been practising for almost a year. Agbo said he came to the village because the village lacked medical services.

    He said: “I did not attend any university. I was trained at a local clinic in the Republic of Benin. I don’t have a certificate to practise. I do not have any permit to work as a doctor in Nigeria. I just came here and started working,” he said.

    Asked how he handles emergency child labour, he said he does not handle emergency cases. “Emergency cases are sent to a better clinic in the Republic of Benin,” he said.

     

    State of Ohunbe Primary Health Centre

    Dorcas Adunni Tijani is the Assistant Chief Nurse who was transferred to the centre in June last year after the facility was locked up for almost a year. She resumed duty on June 5, 2017.

    She said: “When I resumed here, I discovered that the villagers do not attend the facility. I accosted the village chief and complained about the development. I appealed to the villagers and requested to know what I can do to ensure they attend the health centre.

    “I had a meeting with the pregnant women in the villages and asked them why they have shunned the centre. I was told the women attend Pobe, Republic of Benin, for immunization and ante natal care.”

    She admitted that with the condition of the health centre, it would be difficult to convince the people to patronise it.

    “Look, we do not have a bed to sleep on. We do not have any equipment. There is no staff. If there were equipment, a patient will be glad to attend the clinic to receive treatment,” she said.

    Tijani said that since she resumed duties at the clinic, she had been submitting reports of activities at the centre in Abeokuta. “I am the only person that does this. We go for outreach to administer immunization to the communities with only two staff, and it is sometimes heartbreaking.

    “We need staff and equipment. I had to employ an assistant out of my own desire, but the government said I cannot employ an assistant on my own,” she said.

    Asked why the villagers prefer clinics in the Republic of Benin, Tijani said a former staff said it is because the facility is usually unmanned whenever they visit the centre at Ohunbe. Now, I am also sick. I need treatment,” she said.

    Tijani said she has no other staff to assist with the work load in the facility but a woman named Rachel Idowu had been volunteering work at the clinic since 2014 but without any compensation.

    Idowu herself said: “When I first got here, noting was happening. I was just sleeping. People were not coming; they were going to Republic of Benin. We later did sensitization for the people and to some of these villages. It was then that a few of them started coming once in a while.”

    In an inspection of the facility, Idowu took our reporter to all the rooms which were all empty. There was no single mattress or any basic equipment. Even the main room Idowu described as ward had no ceiling.

    Asked what a big clay pot at a corner in the labour room was meant for, she said: “That is where we fetch water from.”

     

    Government’s intervention

    Hon. Moses Adegbite, the new Executive Chairman of Ketu Local Council Development Area where Ohunbe Health Centre is located, admitted that the health center was short of staff and was faced with challenges due to paucity of funds in the council. Adegbite said the government had come up with some programmes to alleviate some of the challenges at the primary health centre.

    On access to health care, the council boss said there is a Federal Government programme assisted by the World Bank to make all the villages in the country have access to health and market centres

    He also said the state government had been doing well in creating programmes to take care of women and children from age one to five, including provision of free medical services. He cited the maternity center in Oja Odan as one of the beneficiaries of the initiative.

    Adegbite said as soon as the council got the necessary funding, there would be total change in the status of Ohunbe Community Health Centre, which would grant the people in the villages access to good health care.

    Adegbite said: “We want to do a lot of renovations to the health centre so that it will look good. We will renovate it and bring new equipment into the facility.

    “We have another centre at Obele, which is being processed by the World Health Organisation. We want them to assist us in putting the structure in place so that our people will not be going to the Republic of Benin to give birth.”

    The Ogun State Commissioner for Information, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye, put the blame of the condition of the health centre largely on the local development council, saying that it did not inform the state government about the plight of the residents or request for support from the state government.

    “We are not responsible for managing primary health centres (PHCs) and we don’t also provide human resource because of the principle of separation of power. It is in the purview of local governments to provide all these functions. But what we do is to provide technical and material support for PHCs in the state,” he said.

    Ipaye promised to call the chairman and the medical officer of health in the LCDA.  “Tomorrow I will investigate the issue. I will call the medical officer of health and the council boss. I will ask for the details and why they have not solicited for our support,” he said.

    He said that the state had acquired some equipment that were being distributed to PHCs in the state.

  • Council build boreholes, fixes health centre

    Epe Local Government Chairman Adedoyin Adesanya, has built two boreholes and rehabilitated the health centre.

    Adesanya said this at a function to mark 100 days in office.

    The council, he said, installed glass and aluminum sliding windows to measure up to the state standards.

    He said the council’s Multipurpose Block has been re-roofed to create a conducive atmosphere for the council officials in discharging their duties.

    “Our legislators are now having befitting office furniture to carry out their legislative businesses. On staff welfare, we have been prompt in the payment of non-pensionable staff salaries before the release of monthly allocation by the state government and bonuses. My plan to increase the Internally Generated Revenue was made possible with this synergy and strong alliance,” he said.

    According to him, 250 people comprising artisans, widows and aged people have been empowered. Five physically-challenged persons were given brand new wheel chairs.

    “I sunk boreholes with two new electricity generating sets to support the pumping of the water, in Zumratul Islamiyya Primary and Solomon Memorial Primary Schools, Epe. These have actually brought relief to them.

    “I eradicated illegal garages along our roads by driving all the road unions to the main garage at Aiyetoro. Road side street tradings at Aiyedoto market were put to an end to forestall loss of lives and properties,” he said.

    Adesanya thanked Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for his developmental strides in Ep. He also thanked the people of Epe for their supports.

  • Student’s death sparks violence in Ekiti

    Student’s death sparks violence in Ekiti

    A health centre and properties worth millions of naira were destroyed in a protest by students of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti (ADO POLY) in Ekiti State, following the death of a Higher National Diploma (HND) student, Oluwafemi Vincent Taiwo. The protesters alleged that their colleague died as a result of negligence at the school’s health centre. The management denied any wrongdoing, shutting down the school indefinitely. SOLOMON ODENIYI reports.

    Students of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti (ADO POLY) in Ekiti State went wild last Saturday, destroying the school’s property in a protest that followed the death of a student identified as Oluwafemi Vincent Taiwo.

    In the rampage, the students torched the school’s health centre. Afterwards, they moved to the highway leading to the institution, destroying properties and smashing windscreens of vehicles. They also went on a looting binge at the polytechnic’s poultry, stealing eggs and chickens.

    They blamed Vincent’s death on negligence by the school clinic workers, alleging that the victim was not attended to hours after he arrived at the facility.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the late Vincent, a Higher National Diploma (HND) Estate Management student, had gone to the health centre last Friday and complained of a severe headache and chest pain.

    He was said to be left unattended to before his condition got worse. On noticing that they could not handle his treatment, the school clinic workers reportedly referred the student to the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital.

    However, his family members were said to have discharged him forcefully after being neglected by doctors at the teaching hospital.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the late Vincent was later taken to his hometown, Ikole-Ekiti, where he later died on Saturday morning

    A close friend of the deceased, who pleaded for anonymity, told CAMPUSLIFE: “Vincent took himself to the school health centre, but he was not given proper treatment. He was only injected with sleeping syrup. Immediately he woke up, he could not move any of his body parts. It was then he was rushed to the Teaching Hospital.

    “Even at the Teaching Hospital, he was not attended to because he had no National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) plan. Yet, the hospital was not ready to release him and would not treat him either. It was the next day his brother forcefully discharged him so that he could be taken to a private hospital in Ikole-Ekiti.”

    In response to the violence, the management of Ado Poly shut the school indefinitely to prevent further breakdown of law and order. It ordered all students out of the campus.

    A top management staff member, who was not permitted to talk to the press on the matter, absolved the school from wrongdoing when he spoke to our correspondent.

    He said: “The student was discovered to be an ulcer patient when he was taken to the health centre. At that time, his pulse was low. So, the health centre workers rushed him to the Ekiti State Teaching Hospital. By the morning when the management members got there, the student had been taken away by a man whose relationship with the deceased we don’t know as I speak to you.

    “The late student was taken away against medical advice. We learnt the person was made to sign an undertaking, which he did. The deceased was taken away alive from the Teaching Hospital but died later. How that becomes the problem of the school remains a mystery.”

    A student of the polytechnic, who was at the Ekiti State Teaching Hospital last Friday, told CAMPUSLIFE the deceased was in pain before he was taken away by his family members. According to the student, whose dad is on admission at the Teaching Hospital, the late Vincent pleaded with his brother to take him away because of the pain.

    The president of the Students’ Union Government (SUG), Samuel Dairo, condemned the violence. He said although there were complaints by students about the poor care and attention they got at the health centre, there was no justification for the violence.

    He said: “I was outside the campus when I got information about the violence. By the time I got to the health centre, I saw the building on fire. Students were all over, destroying property. The situation could not be controlled again by SUG officials, even though we made an effort to stop the protesters. We condemned the violence. Whatever happened is not for anyone to take the law into his own hands.”

    Reacting, the Rector, Dr. Theresa Akande, denied the claim of negligence by the students.

    She said: “The allegation that when they got there (health centre), they were not given proper care is not true, because I use the health centre myself. I go there many times unannounced and if there had been lapses, I would have noticed.”

    The rector said Vincent did not die at the health centre or Teaching Hospital, wondering why the students destroyed the school property.

    According to the rector, Vincent was brought into the health centre on Friday morning “seriously ill”.

    She said: “The deceased was given attention at the health centre. He was admitted, because we have admission facilities. Towards evening, it was noticed that his condition was deteriorating and immediately, he was taken to the Teaching Hospital accompanied by a nurse.

    “According to them, they stabilised him, but to their shock, yesterday (Saturday) morning, somebody who claimed to be the brother came and discharged him forcibly and said he was going to take care of him.”

    To forestall further violence, the management shut the school and inaugurated a seven-man panel of inquiry to unravel the cause of the violence and take stock of things destroyed.

    The management, on Monday, proscribed the SUG and suspended all the union activities till further notice. The decision to suspend the students’ body was reached after a meeting with the suspended union executive members and some student leaders of the institution.

     

  • FUT MINNA rebuilds burnt clinic

    THE Health centre of the Federal University of Technology, Minna (FUTMINNA) in Niger State, has come back to life, five months after it was razed by students during a violent protest. The clinic, located on the Bosso campus, was re-built by the management. The facility was opened for operation last week.

    At a ceremony held to reopen the clinic, the Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Musbau Akanji, said he was delighted by the speedy completion of the project, saying: “Members of the university community who suffer any kind of health impairment can be assured of getting first-class medical attention at a more befitting, functional and state-of-the-art health facility adequately furnished with modern diagnostic equipment.”

    Recalling the ugly incident that led to the destruction of some structures and facilities on the Bosso campus by aggrieved students, Prof Akanji said there was no justification for the vandalism, advising students to be peaceful in channelling their grievances.

    He said: “We took a painful decision to shut down the school for a period of one month. This was done in order to prevent further breakdown of law and order, and to allow for massive rehabilitation work to be carried out on damaged facilities.”

    The VC disclosed that several other damaged facilities had long been repaired, adding that the restitution fee of N4,500 paid by each student was judiciously expended to finance the repair work on the destroyed facilities.

    “The riot that followed the death of the student alleged to have died as a result of medical negligence, to say the least, was traumatic. However, we have put in place necessary measures to forestall a recurrence. The complete renovation of the burnt clinic is the first step. Henceforth, our clinic staff will have no choice than to abide and steadfastly adhere to the work ethics,” he said.

    The VC cautioned the students against resorting to violence in any circumstance, urging them to avoid actions that may disrupt the academic calendar. He warned that the management would not condone acts of rebellion and violence.

    The clinic was burnt down on February 15 by irate students protesting the death of a 300-Level Chemistry Education student, Emmanuel Olalekan, who allegedly died because of negligence of the clinic staff.

  • Makoko community demands health centre, secondary school

    Makoko community demands health centre, secondary school

    Makoko, a riverine community in Lagos has sought the government’s help in developing the area. It is appealing to the government to help in clearing canal and building a health centre and secondary school.
    At a briefing yesterday, Makoko Community Development Association (CDA) chairman Chief Kayode Bamidele, said the community needed a bridge to link Adam Manuel Street, Makoko with Ishola Street at Alagomeji.
    “There is no other thing that we need now from the government than the clearing of the canal which has become a threat to the community. The canal has weeds all over and it is a threat to the job government is doing on our roads. With the clearing of the canal, people will live peaceably, the roads will not be damaged and our good health will be guaranteed.”
    Residents, he said, usually travelled to neighbouring communities for medical attention since there is no health centre in Makoko.
    He said land had been bought for the building of a health centre, adding that they were waiting for the government to take up the project.
    The community, he said, had three primary schools and no secondary school, adding “Our students travel miles to other communities to go to secondary school. This is risky. It is better for pupils to attend schools in their community, to avoid the stress of going and returning from school. We have land for government to build secondary school here, all we need is for them to come to our aid.”
    On Makoko Day, Bamidele said it was the community’s way to showcase their diversity and cultural heritage.
    “Our community consists of all tribes, including Egun, Igbo, Hausa and Ijaw. We are known as a fishing village due to the large concentration of Egun whose major occupation is fishing. There is no major disagreement among the tribes in the community, we live together as one family, having no tribal, political or religious crisis,” he said.