By Desire Uzochukwu
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has unveiled a 100-bed rehabilitation centre as part of a newly upgraded Neuropsychiatric Hospital in the state, declaring that the facility will strengthen the fight against drug abuse and growing mental health challenges.
Fubara also commissioned a brand-new General Hospital at Rumuigbo in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, describing the twin projects as investments in healthcare access and a response to emerging health challenges confronting residents.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony on Tuesday, the governor said the Neuropsychiatric Hospital project was triggered by the deplorable condition of the old facility and the activities of drug traffickers within its premises.
He said what began as an inspection of a rehabilitation centre being constructed with limited funds prompted him to order a complete reconstruction and modernisation of the facility.
“It was there and then that I said: Look, we have this very big compound, we need to rebuild, modernise and upgrade the standard of this Neuropsychiatric Hospital and that day, we started this journey,” Fubara said.
The governor recalled that the Neuropsychiatric Hospital was conceived in 1970 and commissioned in 1977 with a 50-bed capacity, noting that the facility had since become inadequate for the demands of a growing population.
Fubara said the premises had also become a hub for drug trafficking, with dealers allegedly exploiting weaknesses in the old facility to supply drugs to inmates.
“This premises was a drug trafficking centre. We keep people in the Rehabilitation Centre, but some of our people innocently come here to play football while others are carrying bags to sell drugs to the inmates,” he said.
According to him, the reconstructed facility is now properly fenced and secured, with controlled access through designated gates.
“But with what we have done today, I believe that the environment is secured, well-fenced and if you must enter here you must pass through the gates. So, to some extent, it will reduce these activities of drug trafficking in this premises,” he added.
Fubara said the new 100-bed rehabilitation centre would cater for people battling mental health and substance abuse problems, stressing that the government must respond to the psychological pressures associated with contemporary life.
He identified unemployment, depression and other psychological pressures as factors capable of worsening mental health challenges.
“Even in developed countries, they send people to Rehabilitation Centres and they help bring you back to normalcy. So what we have done here is to prepare for the current challenges of our time,” the governor said.
He urged residents to see mental healthcare as an essential component of healthcare rather than stigmatising people seeking treatment.
On the General Hospital, Fubara said the facility was established to address the healthcare needs of Obio/Akpor, one of the largest local government areas in Rivers State.
He said residents had previously depended largely on primary healthcare centres or travelled to tertiary institutions such as the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital and Braithwaite Memorial Hospital for more advanced care.
“We discovered that the only health services around here are the Primary Healthcare Centres. Tertiary healthcare can only be gotten if you go to the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) or the Braithwaite Memorial Hospital (BMH). We felt that Obio/Akpor deserves a General Hospital,” Fubara said.
He explained that the new hospital would enable residents to obtain a broader range of healthcare services within the locality, with only cases requiring specialised intervention referred to tertiary facilities.
The governor said the projects reflected his administration’s commitment to what he described as the three pillars of a functional society, education, healthcare and housing.
“By the special grace of God, we are trying our best in these three most important areas,” he said.
Fubara, however, charged the Obio/Akpor Local Government Council and the host community to protect the facilities against vandalism and theft.
“You’re the direct beneficiaries of it. Don’t say it is a government thing. It is in your place. Who knows, it might take you a long time to get something like this again,” he warned.
Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Gift Worlu, commended the governor for prioritising healthcare delivery and described the modern Neuropsychiatric Hospital as a timely intervention in addressing mental health challenges in the area.
The Special Guest of Honour and outgoing President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mazi Afam Osigwe, also commended the state government for investing in mental healthcare.
Osigwe urged Nigerians to stop stigmatising people who seek psychiatric and psychological care, stressing that mental healthcare goes beyond the treatment of severe psychiatric disorders.
He said issues such as stress, depression and personal crises also require professional attention.
Giving details of the facilities, Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Health, Dr Vincent Wachukwu, said the new General Hospital has Accident and Emergency services, consulting rooms, pharmacy, laboratory, X-ray rooms, delivery room, maternity, postnatal and antenatal wards.
The hospital also has an operating theatre, surgery recovery room, Central Sterilising Services Department, Intensive Care Unit, Newborn Intensive Care Unit, paediatric wards, male and female general wards with 50 beds each, private wards and administrative offices.
Wachukwu said the upgraded Neuropsychiatric Hospital has consulting rooms, pharmacy, laboratory, male and female 50-bed wards, a substance and drug-abuse rehabilitation centre, 50-bed private wards, recreational facilities and a meeting hall.
Other facilities include an electroconvulsive therapy centre, ICT centre, canteen, mortuary, generator house, internal road networks and landscaping, as well as a 216-bed students’ hostel and staff quarters comprising 12 two-bedroom apartments.
He said both hospitals had been equipped with modern diagnostic and treatment equipment and provided with new ambulances.
The hospital complex is also supported by a 500KVA transformer, a 350KVA generating set and solar panels with inverter batteries providing 120KVA.
