Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, has approved the establishment of 10 new dialysis centres, one for each of the ten federal constituencies of the state.
Consequently, the Governor has directed the immediate commencement of recruitment and training of professionals to meet the manpower needs of the dialysis centres, which are to be fully operational by June 2024.
Announcing these at the Immanuel General Hospital, Eket, where he commissioned the Enoch and Folu Adeboye Dialysis Centre, donated by the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Governor Eno also ordered the deployment of relevant personnel from the state hospitals to the dialysis centre to ensure that the facility is not underutilised due to a lack of personnel.
“I am directing the Honourable Commissioner for Health and critical stakeholders of the state to ensure that they provide a dialysis centre in each federal constituency and guarantee me that between now and June 2024, those dialysis centres will be available and functional.
“I have already approved the deployment of staff to the centre. I had given the Honourable Commissioner for Health approval to headhunt for qualified people to come and work here. I have also directed the Head of the Civil Service to work with the Ministry of Health and the Civil Service Commission to absorb them as quickly as possible to have permanent staff here. We don’t want equipment here, yet we don’t have the manpower to operate them”, he stated.
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He made a case for aggressive sensitization on kidney-related ailments and measures to checkmate their occurrence, and he directed that the Ministry of Health collaborate with the Ministry of Information and the Office of the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor to undertake the sensitization.
The State Governor extolled the gesture of RCCG General Overseer Pastor Enoch Adeboye and his wife Folu in partnering with the government through the Church’s humanitarian arm, ‘His Love Foundation’, to provide medical services to Akwa Ibom people, especially those hopelessly plagued with the ravaging kidney diseases.
Describing the dialysis facility provided as a critical healthcare intervention, Governor Eno urged other religious and business organisations to emulate such a robust corporate social responsibility gesture to partner with the government in developing the state, assuring the readiness of his administration to partner in such a direction.
“The huge investment here today speaks loudly to the fact that the government needs to partner with other layers of society to ensure that we advance development across sectors of our economy.
“The church pioneers this, and I also expect all of the people doing business in Akwa Ibom to rise to the occasion and partner with the state government to provide facilities that will stand in their names and show that they are residents and doing business around these communities.
“Don’t give us money, but you can do what you have seen here today. We will give you the enabling environment, we will do the building, and we will provide the staff if you partner with us in your way.
“For me, this is a clarion call on all churches to come forth and be inspired by what we have seen today. It is a step in the very right direction”, he stated.
On asset preservation, the Governor called on local government chairmen, village heads, youth leaders, and appointees under the Community Watch Initiative to rise to the task of ensuring the security of the healthcare infrastructure and other public assets within their domains.
The RCCG Intercontinental Overseer, Christian Social Responsibility, Pastor Idowu Iluyomade, speaking on behalf of the Church, said the Church, driven by a passion for humanity and the need to bring help to people afflicted by the scourge of kidney diseases, has through the “His Love Foundation” set up 12 dialysis centres across Nigeria and was pleased to set up the 13th in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, among other interventions.
The Commissioner for Health, Professor Augustine Umoh, expounding on the imperative of the intervention, said dialysis is one of the best ways of managing kidney failure and lauded the State Government-RCCG partnership as he affirmed the delivery of three dialysis machines, with accessories, by the church to the centre.
Earlier, the Governor visited the Area Command Headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force, Eket, where he registered the appreciation of the state government for the sacrificial services of the police to maintain peace in the state and announced plans by the state government to undertake some interventions to ensure constant power supply at the command.
