Edith CHUKU
Natives and residents of Ndoni Community in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State are full of praises for their illustrious son, Dr. Peter Odili for building a Comprehensive Primary Healthcare Centre.
The health facility which was built and donated to the state government by the PAMO Educational Foundation founded by Odili, seats on the island of Ndoni in the political Ward 14.
It has 20-bed spaces, offering services like antenatal and postnatal services, deliveries, immunization, cervical screening, hypertension and issues of tuberculosis and other levels of health education services.
In an exclusive interview with TNN, a nonagenarian who was among patients being attended to at the healthcare centre expressed a heartfelt appreciation to the former governor for the kind gesture.
Mama Elizabeth spoke in their local dialect which was interpreted thus, “God bless this our son, our brother Odili for this good work he has done. Odili has done a very good thing for us and only good things will always follow him from morning till night.
“We have suffered plenty and God have used our own son to answer our prayers. Me I am here for treatment, see plenty women, mothers and children are here because of this good thing Odili has done, God will bless him.”
Also speaking, Mrs. Rose Echejuwueze explained that the newly built and commissioned primary healthcare centre will provide employment opportunity for women in the community and improve healthcare delivery.
Expressing how excited she was, Echejuwueze said “today I am very, very happy. I thank our brother very well, we appreciate. All women wey dey here, everybody is very happy, you no see as we just dey balance well because of our brother Peter Odili.
“Wetin Odili do no dey two for this whole country Nigeria. Say person use him money build hospital for em people. We dey happy, God bless am.”
A traditional leader, His Royal Highness Bright Abali, also spoke with our correspondent. “I am very happy, this project to us is like a reawakening. The former governor-Dr. Peter Odili made light to come into this area, so coming back again to see how he builds something that will take care of the people’s health, that means he still has his people at heart even in this age.
“We are here with our King, the Oba of Ogbaland and the Oba of Ogbaland has persistently been calling for peace and unity. You see how the turnout is, if everybody is happily turning out like this in every programme, you will know that there will be alot of development. So we are praying that this coming together to open this facility will continue to bring people together.”
Abali added that “We can’t leave the incumbent government. After God it’s government, so after God in Rivers State it’s Sim, so everybody is going to be faithfully following him because it’s from him all our taxes go to and it’s from him we expect the dividends of our tax.”
To Odili he said, “Our brother and father who has built this edifice we say thank you to him and his lovely wife Mary Odili.”
In his speech, Odili explained that he was motivated to undertake the project because two years ago, when flood ravaged Ndoni Town, the health centre in the community was destroyed, leaving people within 50 kilometer radius without immediate healthcare services.
