Fubara Reassures On Prioritising Healthcare Delivery In Rivers…

As Oba Urges For Courage

Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has reiterated that his administration will continue to prioritize healthcare delivery, noting that deliberate steps to ensure that every Rivers person have access to quality healthcare across the state is pursued.

He made the declaration yesterday while unveiling the remodeled and fully furnished 105-bed Zonal Hospital in Omoku, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of the state.

The Governor said the importance attached to the project was driven by the understanding that while lost wealth could potentially be recovered, lost health was much more difficult to regain.

“If you lose wealth, you have lost nothing, because so long as you’re alive, opportunity might come back and you might gain what you have lost. If you lose your health, you have lost something. It’s not an easy thing to regain lost health”, stated.

He explained that the primary function of government is the provision of quality healthcare delivery, housing and security for it’s citizens.

The Governor continued that the new health facility would serve communities beyond Omoku, Egbema and Ndoni, describing it as a strategic healthcare facility for the wider Rivers West Senatorial District.

“We know the importance of this, and that is why we pay very serious attention to the well-being of our people as a government. What are the primary functions of government? To protect life and property, and provide services. These services include healthcare, housing, and even the issue of the road.

“This facility is not just for Omoku. It is a facility that will also cater for the people of Egbema. It can also cater for the people of Ndoni, in serious cases. It can even take care of some people on this other side of Ahoada”, the Governor said.

Fubara also appealed to residents and community leaders to take ownership of the facility and protect its infrastructure and equipment from vandalism and theft.

He also urged the traditional rulers, chiefs and youths of the community to take responsibility for its security.

The Governor further said the facility was particularly important given Omoku’s position as the oil and gas hub in the state.

On his oart, the Special Guest of Honour, the Oba of Ogbaland, His Eminence, Dr. Nwachukwu Nnam Obuoha Obi III, who commissioned the health facility, commended the Governor for what he described as tangible development projects across the area.

The royal father recalled that the Elele-Omoku Road commissioned on Thursday was in a terrible state for many years, adding that the intervention of the Governor had changed residents’ perception of their apparent disconnection with the state.

“It was a place where we did not feel the presence of government, neither did we know that we are part of Rivers State”, the Oba said.

He also recalled the completion of the Ahoada-Egbema Road and the commissioning of the 33.5-kilometre Elele-Omoku dual-carriageway, describing the projects as evidence of government presence.

The monarch took exception to the description of the Omoku Zonal Hospital as merely a remodeled project, insisting that completing an unfinished facility amounted to building it.

“I am not comfortable with those words, the choice of words. If you have started to build a house and you could not complete it, you have not done the job. He who completes a house is he who has built the house. That is why I’m comfortable to say: Thank you for building us a hospital”, he emphasised.

Obi urged the Governor to sustain the pace of infrastructure development during the remaining period of his tenure, also urged him to remain courageous in order to leave behind lasting legacies.

“Courage is all a man needs. Every man will die one way or the other. The moment you live is what matters. It is not over until it’s over”, he stated.

Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Health, Dr. Vincent Wachukwu, described the Omoku Zonal Hospital as a secondary healthcare facility strategically located in the Orashi region.

According to him, the three-storey facility includes support buildings such as a laundry, mortuary and staff quarters, as well as parking space for about 100 vehicles.

He recalled that the contract was awarded on June 11, 2024, and that the hospital would serve as a referral centre for primary and smaller secondary healthcare facilities across Rivers West, particularly in Ahoada East, Ahoada West, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Emohua and parts of Ikwerre Local Government Areas.

Wachukwu said health facility attendance in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni had risen by more than 200 per cent over the past three years, from about 58,914 patients to nearly 225,400 as of December 2025.

He noted that deliveries, skilled birth attendance and four antenatal-care visits had also increased by about 20 per cent, particularly in Omoku and Okwuzi.

The facility includes outpatient clinics, a pharmacy, ECG and ultrasound rooms, accident and emergency services, a dedicated surgical theatre and radiology services on the ground floor.

The first-floor houses laboratories, two operating theatres, a Central Sterilising Services Department, Intensive Care Unit, paediatric wards and a newborn intensive care unit.

The second floor contains obstetrics and gynaecology wards, delivery suites, a nursery, female general and private wards, while the third-floor houses male general and private wards, administrative offices, a library and conference hall.

The project also includes a kitchen and cafeteria, recreational garden, laundry, mortuary, generator house and staff accommodation comprising six one-bedroom units, 12 two-bedroom units and 12 self-contained apartments.

For power supply, the government provided a 500kVA transformer, 350kVA and 150kVA generating sets, as well as the 90KVA solar panels and inverter batteries.

Wachukwu said the facility would provide accessible and affordable secondary healthcare while creating opportunities for professional development, clinical training and medical student postings.

He said the hospital would strengthen healthcare delivery in the Orashi region and contribute to improved maternal, newborn and child health outcomes.

• Kenoye is the Information/Public Relations Officer, Government House Press Unit.