By: Felix Ikpotor
Technical Planning Committee for the Operationalisation of the Ogoni Specialist Hospital has urged the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) to set up an Ogoni Foundation to management the hospital when completed.
Professor Christie Mato, Chairman of the committee stated this as part of their recommendations while presenting their report to the Project Coordination Office of HYPREP in Port Harcourt.
Recall that the HYPREP had set-up the committee comprising seasoned health professionals within and outside Ogoniland in May this year to fashion a framework for the smooth running of the hospital.
Mato while presenting the report said it is important to establish an independent Ogoni Foundation that would receive funds from donor agencies, partners and other sources and deploy same for the management of the hospital.
She also said the hospital would be runned as a legal entity inline with relevant laws governing the establishment of hospitals in the country.
Aside the Ogoni Foundation, the committee recommended a governance structure to be headed by a management committee that would oversight the hospital’s day to day running.
Mato said: “The Technical Committee recommends that the operationalisation and funding of the Ogoni Specialist Hospital should align with relevant laws, statutes and legislations in Rivers State and Nigeria. The hospital will be registered as a corporate entity at the Corporate Affairs Commission and Rivers State Ministry of Health before commencement of services.
” Therefore, the committee recommends that HYPREP takes necessary step to register an Ogon Foundation as a non-profit entity to wholly owned, manage and sustain the Ogoni Specialist Hospital on behalf of the Ogoni people”.
“The committee recommends that the hospital shall have a management committee responsible for oversight of the day to day running of the hospital on all administrative, clinical and related matters, ” she added.
On funding of the hospital, the committee recommended both internal and external funding mechanisms. For internal funding, they recommended a take-off grant to be sourced from the Federal Government, HYPREP, Renaissance Africa Energy, TotalEnergies, NNPCL, Agip and other joint venture partners for a period of five years, while for external funding, the committee recommended sourcing funds from the Rivers State Government, the four local councils of Ogoniland, donor agencies, charity organisations, individuals amongst others.
They further recommended that such funds should be paid into an Ogoni Specialist Hospital Trust Fund and to be managed by the Ogoni Foundation. The committee emphasized that the aim is to ensure that Ogonis take ownership of the facility and also get the best and affordable care.
The committee also made recommendations in areas of staffing, monitoring and evaluation, power generation amongst others.
The committee maintained that the setting up of the hospital is a significant step by HYPREP in addressing the health challenge of the Ogoni people.
“We concluded by emphasizing that the conceptualization and establishment of the hospital by HYPREP is a very crucial step towards addressing the long neglected environmental damage caused by oil pollution and its effects on Ogoniland. This will fulfil the gaps in specialist healthcare services in Ogoniland and beyond, ” Mato stated.
Earlier, the Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Professor Nenibarini Zabbey, stressed the importance of the specialist hospital to the public health needs of the Ogoni people and the wider public, adding that when completed, it would operate as a referral hub providing quality, specialized care while reducing the burden of accessing distant urban tertiary medical services.
He noted that the committee’s work is an essential phase in bringing the hospital into service.
“As of today, construction of the Ogoni Specialist Hospital has advanced to 78.2% completion. It was therefore necessary to establish this committee to provide a clear and sustainable pathway for its operations, ” he said.
Zabbey noted that the detailed planning, consultations, and assessments the committee has undertaken will guide the next steps as the Project work towards completiin of construction and commence operations.
He explained further that the Ogoni Specialist Hospital is a central component of the multilayered public health interventions being implemented by HYPREP in Ogoniland.
“Alongside the ongoing construction of the Buan Cottage Hospital, the human biomonitoring study, the strengthening of hospitals and health centres, regular medical outreaches, and the planned distribution of ambulances to medical facilities, the Ogoni Specialist Hospital represents a strategic effort by HYPREP to address the longstanding health services gap, in line with UNEP’s recommendations for Ogoniland, ” Zabbey said.
He expressed confidence that the recommendations of the committee will get approval of the HYPREP’s Governing Board to commence implementation.
Zabbey, reiterated the call on Ogonis to continue in their support for HYPREP by protecting critical infrastructures in their land like the Ogoni Specialist Hospital and other intervention projects.
On his part, a representative of the Ogoni Communities in the committee, Legborsi Pyagbara, said the hospital is an answer to the long standing yearnings of the Ogoni people.
“Today is a great day because it has advanced our course for provision of healthcare services for the Ogoni people. This is a step forward in terms of creating a platform whereby once the hospital is completed, they will start providing services immediately for our people, ” he stated.
