For 19 years, the members of staff of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu, have carried out their duties from a make-shift apartment bequeathed to the hospital by the Enugu State government in 1997.
The state government from a girls’ secondary school, which gave way for the establishment of the hospital after the civil war in the 1970s, also inherited the improvised office building.
Thus when the Federal Government took over the hospital in 1997, the administrative staff continued to stay in the i-form block with their top management staff as they shared offices.
Therefore, it was all joy on January 29, as the Medical Director of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu, Dr Jojo Onwukwe, took delivery of the keys of a state-of-the-art administrative block and an e-Library from the contractors of the two projects.
Dr Onwukwe who was a pioneer staff in 1997 when the Federal Government acquired the hospital told Oriental News that they have been managing since then to transform the secondary school into a modern hospital. According to him, the task has not been easy more so when the medical directors before him could not do much in changing the face of the hospital.
Therefore, when he took over in 2011 as medical director he was determined to institute a good working environment that would encourage the workers to put in their best.
Thus Onwukwe when he was told by the contractors that they were through with the projects and ready to hand over the keys to him quickly called the management staff that were around, a development that attracted other members of staff who were overjoyed that they would soon move into new office apartments.
In a chat with Oriental News, the Managing Director of Banville Nigeria Limited, Architect Amobi Nwafor, who constructed the e-Library disclosed that the project was meant to last for four months, “but because of the way funds were being released, it took us almost four years.”
Nwafor said that he was, however, happy that his company with the full support of the hospital’s management was able to deliver the project, which he added was of international standard.
“I am very elated because in several places, there are abandoned projects. But because of the integrity of the medical director of this institution, he made it as a policy that no project will be abandoned in his regime and that has been demonstrated today,” he said.
The contractor said that the library building is very excellent and would be suitable for the purpose it is meant for, adding that it would “stand the test of time because that has been what we are known for; our motto is quest for excellence.”
Also in a chat with Oriental News, his counterpart who handled the administrative block, Hon Chidi Amadi of Amber Nigeria Limited, said that the complex was ready for use by the hospital community having been completed to specifications.
Amadi said that his company started the office complex in December, 2011, but has not been able to deliver the project as they were doing it as money was made available to them.
“We are happy that this burden has been relieved off us. This project has been a very big burden. From the date when we are supposed to hand over to now is 108 weeks. So, during this period we maintained the facilities here. We were here almost all the time,” he said, adding that the new office is of high standard.
The Medical Director, Dr Onwukwe in a chat with Oriental News after he received the two keys said that he was happy he was able to build a befitting administrative block for the hospital, having watched the workers carry out their duties from a make-shift apartment in the last 19 years.
Giving the background of the hospital, he said: “Now this was a secondary school and the hospital was brought into this place. So, all this while, before the government took it over, there was a hospital outside here, the Eastern Medical Centre, before the war.
“After the war it was owned by the East Central State, from there the school was owned by Anambra State. After Anambra State it was owned by the Enugu State government. It was then that the Federal Government took over this hospital and about six other state-owned psychiatric hospitals.
“Before then, during the time of East Central State, the hospital was told to pack into these premises and the students were sent to another school. So, we have been planning all these years to establish a regular hospital inside this secondary school; to transform the secondary school into a hospital. That is what we have been doing.
“Now, there has been no administrative block. We have been using the staff offices as our offices. The wards were dormitories meant for the secondary school. So, we have been trying all these years to transform it. So, we have to now think about this building. The contract for these buildings was awarded in the late 2011. And it was funded through the Federal Government capital appropriation.”
He explained that the projects took him four years to complete as they were constructed as money was coming from the Federal Government.
Onwukwe said because of the serious shortage of accommodation they have had in the hospital, his workers would move into their new offices as soon as the Minister of Health comes to commission the projects.
“People look at it as if we are overcrowded, that we have too many staff, it is not so. It is because we are crowded in very small space. So, we intend to move in as quickly as possible so as to decongest our present offices,” he said.
He expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for assisting the hospital financially in constructing the buildings.
Onwukwe revealed that after completing the administrative block, it is his wish to also build wards as the hospital is still using the dormitories bequeathed by the secondary school as wards, as well as complete other projects that are ongoing in the hospital.
Looking at when they started the hospital from the scratch, he said: “I feel a bit fulfilled in a way, that from the scratch we are getting on gradually, onwards and upwards. I feel very happy, I feel more relaxed and more relevant in the system now.”
He disclosed that as his hospital is the only psychiatric hospital in the South-East, they admit patients from the zone and beyond.
The medical director said that at the expiration of his tenure of office in the next three years he hopes to leave behind a very viable health institution well positioned for future growth, set to give quality treatment to patients, as well as a training institution to cater for not only the patients but for the communities around.
By: Chidi Nnadi,
Sun News
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