Vice Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in the 2019 presidential general election and former governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi, has said political office holders in Nigeria should visit hospitals in the country for their personal health needs instead of going abroad for medical tourism and encouraging capital flight.
Obi made the call while speaking during the installation of the 13th President of Onitsha Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, (ONICCIMA) at Patterson Hall, All Saints Cathedral, Onitsha.
Using himself as an example, he said he visits local hospitals like Holy Rosary Hospital, Waterside, Onitsha for his health needs because of the several interventions his administration made in such hospitals when he was in office, adding that many Nigerian hospitals can boast of capable hands.
He regretted that world-renowned specialists and qualified medical practitioners from Nigeria have been lost to foreign health institutions where they are sought after, confounding even their western counterparts; they choose to remain there because those in authority play politics with almost all critical sectors.
He said that in order to reverse that trend, his administration also put up a centre for heart surgery and related cardiology cases at St Joseph’s Hospital, Adazi Nnukwu when he learnt that an Anambra man from the community was doing exploits abroad in the same field but cannot replicate such in Nigeria because of no encouragement from the public sector.
Obi urged Nigerians to hold political leaders accountable instead of giving them unmerited accolades as “His Excellencies” when there is nothing excellent in their actions and performances in office.
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Making a veiled reference to the Obiano administration for non-continuity, he regretted that the greater Onitsha Water Scheme which contract sum of N3bn was awarded and his administration paid N1billion was abandoned likewise the UN-Habitat design for the Onitsha Master Plan.
Responding to Obi’s remark, Chairman of the occasion, Chief Godwin Ubaka Okeke of the popular GUO Transport admonished leaders to allow the people to choose who governs them on merit and not picking successors on the sentiments of school mates and church members. He said Obi shares in the greater blame if there is any shortcoming on the Obiano administration because it was Obi that brought him to govern Anambra.
The newly-inaugurated President of ONICCIMA, Sir Chris Ukachukwu, a pharmacist and industrialist in an inaugural address, vowed to strive towards restoring the glory of the Onitsha business community. He said part of his vision would be to explore every possible way of projecting the commercial potentials of the Onitsha business community to key investors in the global market.
