…There is hope for Ogoni- Pyagbara
By: Felix Ikpotor
As the Ogoni Specialist Hospital, OSH, currently under construction by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, HYPREP, nears completion, the Project Coordination Office, PCO, has set up a 14-man Technical Planning Committee, TPC, to map out strategies for the speedy and smooth operationalisation of the hospital.
The committee headed by Professor Christie Mato is expected amongst other things to come up with a sustainability framework for the hospital.
Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Professor Nenibarini Zabbey, while inaugurating the committee at the HYPREP office in Port Harcourt, said the interventionist agency does not want to wait until the hospital is fully completed before thinking of how to make it operational.
He noted that the building of the Ogoni Specialist Hospital located in Tai Local Government Area is part of HYPREP’s determined effort in addressing the health challenges of the people and implementing the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, Report on Ogoniland.
Zabbey explained that the committee made up of seasoned health professionals both from the public and private sector, including community representatives, have been tasked to turn in their report within four months.
“Already the hospital is 76 percent complete so we don’t want to wait until when it’s completed before we start thinking of how best to run the hospital, how to make the hospital sustainable and it is on that note that the Project Coordinating Office, PCO, decided to inaugurate the Technical Planning Committee and I’m happy because the committee has seasoned health professionals both in the private and public sector as well as community representatives.
“We expect the committee to come up with sustainability framework for the hospital, governance framework, staffing structure and most importantly, come up with a framework that would ensure the poor women, men and youths in Ogoniland are able to afford treatment in that hospital,” he said.
Zabbey said apart from the Ogoni Specialist Hospital, the agency is also constructing the Bua Cottage Hospital in Khana Local Government Area and also strengthening other health facilities in Ogoniland.
He also stated that last year, HYPREP strengthened four hospitals, stressing that this year, the agency is also strengthening four more hospitals.
Speaking on other interventions in healthcare delivery, the Project Coordinator said they have been carrying out periodic medical outreaches in Ogoniland to support the health of the people while planning to start a three-year biometric study of Ogoni that would be undertaken by the International Agency For Research and Cancer of the World Health Organization, WHO, disclosing further that the WHO team will arrive Nigeria in the first week of July 2025 to consult with stakeholders, including health professionals and members of the Ogoni communities.
He further expressed confidence in the ability of the committee to deliver on their mandate while charging them to bring in their wealth of experience in assisting the project deliver on its mandates.
“To this end, your expertise and experience will be essential in shaping the hospital’s framework, services, and overall direction. Therefore, I urge you to provide your professional insights and recommendations to ensure that this project serves the best interests of the Ogoni people and contributes to the overall public health landscape in Nigeria.
“So again, we are very happy that we have been able to put together a composite committee that has very competent professionals in the health sector to drive the development of Ogoniland,” Zabbey added.
Apart from strengthening health systems and providing access to medical care in Ogoniland the Project Coordinator said the agency has been delivering a lot of projects in the area of remediation, shoreline clean-up, mangrove restoration and livelihoods opportunities including the Centre of Excellence for
Environmental Restoration, CEER, construction of the Ogoni Power Project and provision of potable water facility for the people.
Zabbey expressed satisfaction that the project was delivering on its mandates, declaring: “So overall, we are happy that we are on course in implementing the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report on Ogoniland”.
Responding, Chairperson of the Technical Planning Committee, TPC, Professor Christie Mato appreciated HYPREP for giving them the opportunity to serve on the committee, promising to ensure that the task is achieved within the stipulated time frame. She also assured that the committee would look for workable models to implement and to ensure that people of Ogoni can afford health services at the hospital.
“We consider it an honour to be appointed into this committee and part of what we are going to do is to look for models for sustainability and look for what works best for us as a people and we must make sure that apart from the hospital just being there, that the average Ogoni person has access to the hospital and that whatever fees are charged there are affordable,” Mato said.
Mato expressed confidence in her committee to deliver on the mandate saying; “If you look at the members of the committee both from the public and private sectors, you will see seasoned professionals and I believe that this committee is very capable of delivering on the mandate that has been given to it”.
Meanwhile, Comrade, Legborsi Pyagbara, a former president of the Movement For the Survival of Ogoni People, MOSOP, has expressed optimism that the setting up of the TPC signals good omen for the Ogoni people.
Pyagbara while reacting to the setting up of the committee noted that health challenge has been one of the biggest issues the Ogoni people have been dealing with as far as oil exploration and it’s impacts on their environment was concerned which he attributed to the health crisis in Ogoniland.
The Ogoni activist said the move by HYPREP is an indication that the interventionist agency is committed to healthcare delivery in Ogoniland.
“For me, the inauguration of this committee today is also to confirm the commitment of HYPREP to committing to health delivery in the area. Health delivery is one of the biggest fallouts of the entire environmental crisis in the land.
“So for us, it’s an indication that HYPREP is moving forward to making sure that the best is done for the Ogoni people in terms of health provision, health access and making it in a such a way that it can meet international best practices in the industry, it’s an omen that good days are ahead of us in Ogoniland especially when it comes to the issue of stressing the health question,” Pyagbara stated.
