From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Nursing students and the entire community of St. Charles Borromeo Specialist Hospital, Onitsha erupted in joy on Thursday as the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections, Mr Peter Obi, presented a cheque of N10million to its College of Nursing Sciences.
Obi, during the cheque presentation at the school’s premises, said the gesture was his annual way of supporting and impacting towards strengthening the critical sectors, especially, health, education and reducing poverty in the society.
The former Anambra State governor noted that the donation was meant for 2023, but he could not visit the school in 2023 to present the cheque because of electoral activities and other issues that did not allow him do so.
While presenting the cheque to the College management, Obi explained that it was part of his own way of giving back to the society, what God has given to him, adding that Nurses play critical role in moulding a healthy and virile nation.
He said, “When people say things that you did and what you did not do while in office, it is because there were people there. I remembered that as a primary school boy, I was taught that the first nurse produced in Nigeria was by the Iyi-Enu School of Nursing here in Anambra.
“We need to start contributing our quota to the development of critical institutions like this. I am sure that in time to come, this school will move to greater heights. The Nurses are very critical as they are the ones who assist the doctors in many ways and takes care of the patients. The Nurse owns the patient, their job is critical and it is needed globally. Nursing is one profession that the world needs.
“Ours is to continue to support. I will continue to offer my annual yearly support. Last year, I did not come because of activities that took my time. All we are doing today is giving back what God has giving to us, it is not by our own power. I came to support the college, the students, the health workers and the management team and we will continue to pray for your success.”
Speaking to journalists after the presentation of the cheque, Obi said it is important for relevant authorities at all levels to start prioritising the key sectors of human development like health, education and pulling people out of poverty.
“It is for us to prioritise in clear terms, the key developmental sectors which are health, education and pulling people out of poverty. If we prioritise these and put our resources towards it, it will be very critical. When you talk about health, you talk about primary health care and the health workers.
“We need to support the health workers to train them to be able to have enough manpower to handle that sector and that is what I have come here to do, to support them in the way I can. Public service is a continuous process, even when you have left, we must continue to support because we are not doing them a favour, by doing this, we are helping ourselves by impacting on the healthcare professionals because we don’t know who is going to be sick. That is why I do this very often.
“If we train our health workers by supporting college of nursing, there won’t be any need for people to go abroad for medical treatment. Medical tourism with public resources is what we must stop.
“Nurses travelling abroad after training here is not a problem. That is why we need to train enough, if we train enough of them, we will export enough and keep some here, because we also need them to be exported to be part of foreign remittances which we need now.
“I go to hospitals and say, start a school of nursing and we support them with funding. That is what government should be doing, because the nurses are critical to the nation development. They help in maintaining a healthy and virile nation,” Obi added.
While receiving the cheque on behalf of the college management, the Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha and the Proprietor, College of Nursing Sciences, St. Charles Borromeo Specialist Hospital, Most Rev. Valerian Okeke, commended Obi for his continuous support of the college.
Okeke said, “Mine is to thank God and thank our former governor. He has continued to support the college even when he left office. We also thanked others for their goodwill and continuous support and the trust reposed on the college. This place was built as a School of Nursing but was upgraded to a College of Nursing Science by the Federal Government because of the quality of the facilities we put in place.
Archbishop Okeke lauded Obi for his continuous support to all th3 noble causes in the society both while as a public office holder and out of government. He prayed that Obi’s dreams for a better Nigeria will come to fruition.
The Archbishop also commended the Cordinator Health Services of the Archdiocese and Vice Chancellor, Rev. Fr. Basil Ekwunife for his tenacity and sticking to standards and quality in the affairs of health institutions in the Archdiocese.
He also praised the Chief Executive Officer of Borromeo Hospital, Rev Dr Izunna Okonkwo, the Administrator, Povost of the College and all involved in the actualisation of the vision of the Archdiocese in the health sector.
He assured of sustaining the tempo of excellence in the affairs of the College to the next decade which will automatically translate to the College becoming a reference point in the entire West African sub region.
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