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"28th
Anniversary Hospital" - Akwa Ibom ‘World-Class’ Hospital INSET Akpabio
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The delay in the arrival
of foreign doctors, said to be waiting for clearance from relevant medical
associations in Nigeria and work permit from the nation’s immigration service,
is the main reason the 28th Anniversary Hospital in Akwa Ibom state is yet to
start operation. A
former governor of the state, Godswill Akpabio, made the disclosure while
speaking at the 28th anniversary celebration of the state.
Mr.
Akpabio, minority leader of the Nigerian senate, said the ‘processes’ would be
completed in “less than one month”.
Mr.
Akpabio had boasted close to the end of his reign that the ₦30
billion hospital built by his administration was ‘world-class’ in standard and
higher in status than a teaching hospital.
“We
lose billions of dollars every year to medical trips abroad. We have also lost
a lot of people, not because we don’t have the expertise in the country,” Mr.
Akpabio said during the commissioning of the hospital.
PREMIUM TIMES report continues:
The
former governor however stirred controversy recently when he ignored the
‘world-class’ hospital and instead flew to London for medical treatment after
involving in a car crash in Abuja.
Most
Nigerians, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES at the time, were of the opinion that Mr.
Akpabio’s preference for a hospital in London showed that the former governor
was not honest about his claim that the Akwa Ibom 20th Anniversary Hospital was
‘world-class’.
The
people also expressed shock that the hospital doors had remained closed several
months after Mr. Akpabio commissioned it while he was governor.
“Why
has the hospital not taken off?” Mr. Akpabio asked rhetorically while speaking
Wednesday at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, to mark the 28th
anniversary of the state.
He
then explained: “It is because the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria
expects to register anybody who wants to work as a doctor in Nigeria. You
cannot go to Britain and work in Britain unless you pass through the procedure.
Because at the same time Immigration must give you the necessary resident
permits for you to bring in those doctors.”
He
insisted that the 20th Anniversary Hospital had superior facilities than the
London hospital he went to.
“When
people are talking about the 20th Anniversary Hospital, they should go there
and find out, even the CT scan that I saw in London is not up to the one that
you have in Uyo.
”That
is the one they call 64 slides. Udom, the one that you have here is 640 slides.
Ten times in magnification of what you have in Europe,” Akpabio said to the
enthusiastic crowd which had turned up in the 30,000-capacity stadium to also
witness the launch of a rebirth programme tagged ‘Dakkada’ – Ibibio word for
‘stand up’.
“If
I were to be ill next time I’m sure instead of flying me six hours to London,
they will bring me 50 minutes into Akwa Ibom International Hospital and I will
be very proud to come there and thereafter stand in front of you.”
Mr. Akpabio did not say
why his state is relying entirely on foreign doctors to run the hospital when
there are several well-qualified Nigerian professionals at home and abroad.
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