The pledge by Akwa Ibom Government to complete the abandoned Ukanafun Cottage Hospital sounded like another campaign float to people of the area, but elicited feeble applause from the audience.
Akwa Ibom Governor Umo Eno, who worshipped at Rapture Trust Ministries, Ikot Akpa Nkuk on Sunday, in solidarity with the bereaved family over the passage of the church’s founder, Arch-Bishop Moswill Umoh, purportedly gave glimmer to the project.
After the condolence visit, Eno visited and inspected the 50-bed hospital in the area whose contract was awarded by the state government along with others in 2008.
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Exclusive: Untold Story Of Abandoned Ukanafun Cottage Hospital (1)
Exclusive: Untold Story Of Abandoned Ukanafun Cottage Hospital (2)
While similar hospitals in Ukana Ikot Ntuen, Ika, and Ibeno established by ex-Governor Godswill Akpabio administration are brimming with life, the Ukanafun Cottage Hospital is loathed in thick bush populated by rodents and other dangerous reptiles.
Akpabio had visited the hospital and promised to complete it. In his eight-year reign, the immediate past governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel visited too and promised to complete it.
Yet, the pledges were mere campaign floats because the hospital still remains abandoned and forgotten despite the fact that the local government area gave Peoples Democratic Party massive votes in 2011, 2015 and 2019 governorship elections.
After 15 years, the project is still enmeshed in legal controversy and abandonment, thus drowning any thunder of celebration.
In April this year, the Ukanafun Professionals, through its PRO, Omasco Ekeke, had drawn the attention of the public to the project, with the hope that Emmanuel was going to address the abandoned project before leaving office.
That was after immediate past member of the state house of assembly from the area, Dr Charity Ido, led her colleagues and other stakeholders on an inspection tour of the project.
After the church service on Sunday, Eno accompanied by Aniekpan Akpan, the state PDP Chairman and some members of the State Executive Council, visited the hospital where he promised prompt completion of the project.
Speaking at the project site, Governor Eno directed the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Augustine Umoh, to liaise with the contractor and relevant stakeholders in the community and furnish him with details on the status of the project and requirements for completion.
He also directed the commencement of work on access road to the hospital to allow for quick and smooth access to the medical facility.
Straightnews gathered that contract for the construction of the hospital was awarded and the contractor collected N877 million out of the N1.1 billion contract sum.
Without nipping the thorny legal matter, Straightnews understands that the project will remain another campaign float until the election period.
Earlier in the church, the governor had thanked Ukanafun people for supporting him during the last governorship election, and promised to sustain his administration’s rural development drive in the Ukanafun community.
He said his attendance at the service was to show solidarity to the deceased Clergyman’s family and the Church over the loss, describing the late Moswill Umoh as a strong voice in promoting the gospel of Christ.
To him, Bishop Umoh was a dependable ally who gave him strong support during his governorship bid, and thanked God that Umoh raised a worthy successor in his son, to further his vision.
He said “Coming here is a small way of saying thank you. I appreciate you. But most importantly to show solidarity with the family of our late Bishop Moswill Umoh who loved me and I can say so very clearly.
‘‘He has been to our church, preached in our conventions and he loved family. The man was everywhere, even when he had some challenges with his legs. He would come for campaigns and would be in every political meeting. He was a mighty voice among the Fathers of Faith.”
The son of the deceased, Pastor Ekponoabasi Moses Wilson Umoh, thanked the governor for the visit, which he said was love driven based on the relationship with his late father.
He described his late father as a man of faith and source of inspiration, saying that the governor’s visit was a great honour to the family.
Ekponoabasi announced that the remains of late Bishop Moswill Umoh will be given final interment on September 30, 2023 at Ikot Akpa Nkuk, Ukanafun Local Government Area.
Delivering a sermon: Higher Ground for Gospel Bearers, taken from Matthew 5:3-14, Rev. Ndueso Ekwere of the United Evangelical Church, said Jesus being on the mountains placed him on a higher ground to show God to men and impact their lives.
The former State Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, admonished gospel ministers, government officials and leaders to rise up to the duty of impacting on the lives of people, and also charged leaders at all levels to be responsible to the people they serve.
