RAYMOND OZOJI reports
It was jubilation galore at Obunagu-Amikwo village square Awka-South Local Government Area of Anambra State as business mogul and philanthropist Mr. Onuorah Godwin Osonwa built and handed over Manari Osonwa Primary Healthcare Centre to the Anambra State Government for better management.
Mr. Onuorah who chose to be a gentleman rejecting chieftaincy title offers in spite of his affluence and humanitarian missions, told newsmen that he built the health facility in memory of his late mother to end infant and child mortalities in his community Obunagu-Amikwo.
He said cases of child mortalities and other emergency health issues were rampant in his community and this prompted him to bring quality healthcare closer to his people, which according to him, is the remote reason he built the hospital for them.
Onuorah who said that he is not a politician nor a government contractor, maintained that he decided to hand over the hospital to the Anambra State Government for better and more professional management of the facility for it to serve the purpose it was established so that his community, Awka-South Local Government and the State would have unhindered access to quality and functional healthcare services.
The State Commissioner for Health Dr. Ben Afam Obidike who was at the handover ceremony, said Mr. Onuorah Godwin Osonwa's philanthropic gesture was in tandem with the state government's policy on comprehensive healthcare services for the citizens especially those in the rural areas.
Obidike noted that two women who delivered their babies in the facility, did so free of charge because the government of Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo has made it mandatory that antenatal and child delivery services are free in all public health facilities across Ànambra State.
The Commissioner described it as a good facility, saying that human resource for health have been deployed to it together with functional telemedicine for regular and uninterrupted medical services.
On the other hand, the State Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Anambra Chief Barr. Ifeatu Obi-Okoye noted that Mr. Onuorah's generosity and benevolence is in consonance with APGA mantra of being one's brothers' and sisters' keeper.
Obi-Okoye noted that the framework of development of the APGA government in Anambra State under Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo is a bottom to top model. He said that the primary healthcare facility is more than three flyovers because according to him, for every village woman who delivers her baby in the facility is free of charge.
He also stated that antenatal services are equally free of charge in the Manari Osonwa PHC while thanking the governor for his humanistic policies and programmes that have ensured as well as guaranteed better life for the rural populace and the entire citizenry.
The Executive Chairman of Awka-South Local Government Area Hon. Prince Chinedu Okafor on his part also described it as a very big edifice built to international standards to serve the people of Awka ward 6 free of charge in line with state government policy on free and highly subsidized services in all government hospitals.
Okafor noted that Mr. Onuorah is complementing government efforts with the donation of the primary healthcare facility because the governor, according to him, has always preached Public-Private-Community-Partnership (PPCP), stressing that people in the communities that are well-to-do should get involved in philanthropic gestures to help the poor and the less privileged ones in the society.
The Awka-South Local Government Chairman who donated wheelchairs and other hospital equipment to Manari Osonwa Primary Healthcare Centre, said he made the donations to contribute his quota to the services delivered in the hospital.
Also the State Chief of Protocols and Deputy Chief of Staff Hon. Chinedu Nwoye Glamour who attended the handover ceremony, equally confirmed the existence of telemedicine in the facility for 24 hours service.
Glamour who described Manari Osonwa Primary Healthcare Centre as a wonderful one as well as a timely response to the medical and health needs of Obunagu-Amikwo villagers, prayed for the repose of the souls of the parents of Mr. Onuorah Godwin Osonwa whom he has dedicated the facility to.
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