Governor Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State has reiterated the commitment of his administration towards ensuring comprehensive renovation of all government hospitals across the state.
The Governor disclosed this when he paid an unscheduled visit to the General Hospital, Ilawe-Ekiti on Monday. He said his administration embarked on the renovation of all health facilities in the state in order to ensure effective health care delivery system in the state.
Governor Oyebanji, who was conducted round the hospital complex by the Chief Medical Director, Dr Oladimeji Ashafa; expressed dissatisfaction over the current state of the Ilawe hospital. He, however, said he was happy that he came to see the situation by himself, adding that regular inspection of facilities and projects across the state would be a major feature of his administration.
He urged the workers in the hospital not to be discouraged by the physical structure, assuring them that the hospital would be captured in the next phase of the hospital renovation project, which he said was being done in phases.
He also called on prominent Ekiti indigenes across the state to contribute their quotas in ensuring the well being of government facilities in their localities.
The Governor, who made a personal donation of a 7.5kva generating set to the hospital to boost its services and bring about effective service delivery, assured that the hospital would get a facelift very soon as it was bound to be captured in the subsequent phase of hospital renovation exercise.
Addressing the staff of the hospital after the inspection, Mr Oyebanji commended them for their perseverance, commitment and dedication to their duty in spite of the challenges of dilapidated facilities and structures in the hospital.
“I have seen the situation at this General Hospital, Ilawe Ekiti, I am not happy about it but it is good that I have come, we will go back and see what we can do. Renovation of hospitals has started and it is an ongoing project. Inspecting facilities is going to be a permanent feature of my administration, I want to see things for myself.
“I don’t want you to be discouraged and don’t want you to despair because you are dealing with lives, you may not like this situation, it would have been worse than this if you were not here. I want you to be encouraged and as a government, we would support you. And I will also talk to prominent indigenes of this town to do something about the facility here.” He said.
Also, addressing some residents of the town, the Governor assured them that the road from Ilawe to Ikere Ekiti would be revisited as his government has begun the process to mobilize the contractors handling the project to site.
He also assured youths in the state that government would soon inaugurate programmes that would empower them calling on them to key into the programme aimed to cut across party lines.
Earlier, the Governor had also paid an unscheduled visit to the Technical College, Igbara Odo, where he inspected ongoing renovation of the school. He said his administration would boost vocational education and make it attractive to the citizens as one of the pathways to entrepreneurship.
Packaged by Emmanuel Adeniran
