The Ajebandele Community Health Centre in Ijebu East LGA of Ogun state has been a story told; told often and often by many stakeholders. But unlike the Shakespearian tale of an idiot that is “full of sound and fury signifying nothing”, this one signifies many things, positive and negative.
To politicians and their contractors, it has been a recurring source of undeserved wealth having put tonnes of Naira into their greedy pockets. It is also an example of unhealthy rivalry between federal, state and local governments whereby all the levels of government waste resources due to lack of cooperation in strategies and planning.
Again, it represents an eye opener for community dwellers and people of conscience to get more involved in government projects that touch their lives so as to monitor such projects and compel completion or prevent their abandonment.
Last July, I reported here that the Centre had been transformed from a rat and bat-infested dungeon into a citadel, indeed a glittering one though poorly equipped at that time. No beddings, fans, furniture and other fittings. I commended the Ogun State governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, his health commissioner and all other stakeholders involved in the clinic’s transformation and pleaded with them to complete the rehabilitation process by procuring all the needed items for the sake of the people.
Either by a stroke of luck, coincidence or by divine intervention, the state government did the needful last month by supplying many of the items thus fulfilling the promise earlier made by the health commissioner.
I was at the clinic last week with the Baale of the village and its community leader. It was a scene to behold as the hitherto empty clinic became filled up with mattresses, delivery beds, weighing tools for mothers and babies, wheel chair, ceiling fans, etc while the stores brimmed with drugs and other medicament.
As if waiting to be so adorned, the main ward shone along with the new materials still wearing their “tear-rubber gowns” beckoning us to savour their ‘taste’.
We looked but saw no traces of the federal government’s involvement through the eighth National Assembly (NASS) which had budgeted ten million naira for the repair of the clinic as part of the constituency development projects of its members. The red roof they installed including iron-cast doors and windows had disappeared!
In their place are imprints of the state government. What this means is that the state government being true owners of the clinic has taken full possession of its property and would not brook any intervention by any other tier of government. Thus the amount the Federal powers spent on the clinic through NASS and the Office of the Secretary to the Federation has gone down the drains! What a waste! It is an indication that there was no proper consultation between the FG and Ogun state government before and during its rehabilitation in 2017/2018.
As usual, neither the Federal authorities nor the state government has yet deemed it fit to be accountable to the people. How much really did the FG spend on the project? How much has the state government spent so far? Your guess is as good as mine: mum is still the word!
But the joy is that the clinic on which millions of Naira has been spent can now be seen, felt and put to good use.
Many thanks therefore to the state government for what it has done so far. I learnt that it is yet to provide tables,chairs and other fittings for staff and patient’s use. The reception part of the building is still a junkyard. With what has been done so far, there is no fear that this promise to provide the furniture would be fulfilled soonest.
However, it would have been wiser and more cost effective if the state government had improved on what the FG had done rather than dismantling it. This would have freed some public funds for other pressing needs in the community.
While commending the state government, mention should also be made of BugIT, an NGO which has been tracking government budgets in the country with a view to ensuring their efficient implementation to the benefit of the people. It was this organisation that first brought the attention of the community to the project and the apparent conflicts between the FG and the state government.
On several occasions, it sent its field officers to inspect the project and brief the community about it. To them and other stakeholders including the mass media, we say a big thank you!
