Oje-Owode Health Centre: Governor Makinde, What Is the Offence of Our Children, Pregnant Women and the Aged?

 

Seven Years After the Promise, Oje-Owode’s Primary Health Care Centre Lies Abandoned as Residents Cry Out for Help

There are moments when a government failure becomes more than a statistic.

There are moments when an abandoned project becomes more than a structure.

  

And there are moments when silence becomes so painful that ordinary citizens are left with only one question:

Governor Seyi Makinde, what exactly have the children, pregnant women, the aged and other vulnerable residents of Oje-Owode done to deserve this?

This is not merely a complaint about a building.

  

It is a cry for help from a community whose people have waited patiently for a basic healthcare facility that they were made to believe was coming.

  

Several years ago, the people of Oje-Owode received what appeared to be good news. Some people reportedly arrived from Ibadan with the message that the government was going to upgrade the Primary Health Care Centre serving the town.

The community was excited.

The people rejoiced.

They welcomed the promise with open arms and, according to residents, showered prayers upon the government and those behind the initiative.

They believed that help had finally come.

They believed that their women would no longer have to struggle for basic maternal healthcare.

 

They believed that their children would have somewhere safe to receive medical attention.

They believed that the aged and other vulnerable members of the community would no longer be exposed to unnecessary hardship whenever illness struck.

But seven years have passed.

 

And the promised healthcare transformation remains, in the eyes of residents, painfully elusive.

Instead of a modernised healthcare facility, what the community says it sees today is a structure in a deplorable condition — one that has reportedly become a breeding ground for rats and rodents.

A place that was supposed to preserve human life has been left, according to residents, vulnerable to rodents.

How did we get here?

A Healthcare Centre Where Women Give Birth in the Same Space Children Are Treated

  

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the situation is what residents say is happening at the makeshift facility currently serving the community.

According to accounts from the community, healthcare workers are forced to attend to patients under extremely difficult conditions.

Women reportedly give birth in the same general space where children are attended to.

Think about that for a moment.

A pregnant woman in labour deserves dignity.

A newborn child deserves a clean and safe environment.

A sick child deserves proper medical attention.

An elderly person deserves compassionate healthcare.

Yet residents say the reality confronting them is far removed from what should ordinarily be expected of a functional primary healthcare centre.

This is not the standard our people deserve.

This is not the healthcare system citizens should be pleading for in the seventh year of waiting.

And this is not the kind of situation that should require another seven years of letters, appeals and promises.

How Many Letters Must Oje-Owode Write Before Somebody Listens?

The community says it has not remained silent.

Several appeals have reportedly been made.

Several letters have reportedly been written.

Representations have been made.

The people have continued to pursue the matter because they believe government exists to serve them.

More recently, the community says it submitted a request under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, seeking information concerning the contractor reportedly connected with the project.

The statutory response period referenced by the community has elapsed, yet residents say they have not received an official response.

That development has only deepened their frustration.

If citizens have a legitimate question about a public project, why should obtaining basic information become such a difficult task?

The people of Oje-Owode are not asking for the impossible.

They are asking:

Who was awarded the contract?

What was the value of the contract?

When was it awarded?

What was the scope of work?

How much has been paid?

Why has the project remained incomplete?

What is the present status of the project?

And, most importantly:

When will the people finally have a functional healthcare centre?

These are reasonable questions.

Governor Makinde, We Voted for You

Governor Seyi Makinde, the people of Oje-Owode are not strangers to your government.

They say they supported you massively during your first tenure.

They supported you again during your second-term bid.

They have continued to identify with your administration and its development agenda, including the Omituntun 3.0 vision.

They have voted.

They have waited.

They have appealed.

They have written.

They have pursued.

They have remained hopeful.

But today, their question is painfully simple:

Why are we still waiting for something as fundamental as a functional primary healthcare centre?

Is this what citizens who voted for their government deserve?

Is it unreasonable for a community to expect a safe place where a pregnant woman can deliver her baby?

Is it too much to ask for a clean environment where children can receive medical treatment?

Is it too much to ask that elderly citizens should have access to basic healthcare close to home?

What is their offence?

To the Commissioners: Please, Visit Oje-Owode

This appeal is not directed at Governor Makinde alone.

It is also directed to the relevant authorities in the state government.

To the Ministry of Health and the Commissioner responsible for Health, the people of Oje-Owode are asking you to look in their direction.

To the Ministry responsible for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters and the Commissioner in charge, please listen to this community.

Do not rely solely on reports and files.

Do not judge the situation from an office.

Go to Oje-Owode.

Visit the existing makeshift healthcare facility.

See where healthcare workers are operating.

See the conditions under which mothers seek care.

See the environment in which children are attended to.

Then visit the abandoned healthcare centre.

Stand before the structure.

Look at it carefully.

And ask yourself:

Would I want my own wife to give birth here?

Would I want my child treated here?

Would I want my elderly parent to depend on this facility?

Perhaps then the urgency of the community's cry will become impossible to ignore.

A Particularly Painful Comparison

Residents have also expressed anguish over what they regard as a painful contrast between the pace at which public healthcare infrastructure has deteriorated and the speed with which private healthcare investment can be established.

They point specifically to the immediate past chairperson of the local government and her reported ability to establish her own private clinic within a relatively short period during her administration.

Whether public and private projects are directly comparable or not, the comparison has become symbolic for residents.

Their frustration is understandable:

If a healthcare facility can be established privately within a short period, why should an entire community wait for years for a government healthcare project to be completed?

The question deserves an answer.

Not political rhetoric.

Not another promise.

An answer — followed by action.

This Is About Human Lives, Not Politics

The people of Oje-Owode are not asking Governor Makinde to perform magic.

They are asking their government to complete a healthcare project that they say has been pending for years.

This should not be reduced to APC versus APM

It should not be turned into an opposition-versus-government argument.

It should not become another political talking point.

A pregnant woman in labour does not ask which political party built the hospital.

A sick child does not understand political manifestos.

An elderly man battling illness does not care about campaign slogans.

They only need help.

They need a healthcare centre.

They need healthcare workers equipped to do their jobs.

They need a clean, safe and functional environment.

They need their government to care.

Governor, Please Don't Let This Cry Go Unanswered

Governor Seyi Makinde, this is therefore a direct appeal from the people of Oje-Owode.

Please look beyond the paperwork.

Look beyond the official reports.

Look beyond the corridors of government.

Look at Oje-Owode.

Look at the abandoned health centre.

Look at the makeshift facility.

Look at the mothers.

Look at the children.

Look at the aged.

Look at the healthcare workers doing their best under difficult circumstances.

And ask yourself whether this is consistent with the healthcare vision your administration wants to leave behind.

The people say they have supported you.

They say they have voted for you.

They say they have prayed for your government.

They say they have repeatedly appealed.

Now, they are asking for something in return — not political patronage, but basic human dignity.

Seven years is long enough.

The rats and rodents should not be the beneficiaries of a healthcare project intended for human beings.

The abandoned structure should not remain a monument to an unfulfilled promise.

The makeshift facility should not become the permanent destiny of Oje-Owode.

And mothers should not have to wonder where they will safely deliver their babies.

The Scribe's Appeal

Governor Makinde, please intervene.

Order an immediate investigation into the status of the project.

Direct the relevant ministries and agencies to provide the community with clear information about the contract.

Establish what happened to the project.

Determine what remains to be done.

And, if there is no legal or administrative impediment, complete and commission the healthcare centre without further delay.

Let Oje-Owode know that government still hears its voice.

Let the children know that their lives matter.

Let pregnant women know that their safety matters.

Let the aged know that they have not been forgotten.

Let the healthcare workers know that government sees the difficult work they are doing.

And let the people who prayed when the promise was first made have a reason to pray again — this time in thanksgiving.

Governor Seyi Makinde, the people of Oje-Owode are not asking for too much.

They are asking for a healthcare centre.

They are asking for dignity.

They are asking for compassion.

They are asking for accountability.

Above all, they are asking to know that their government still cares.

Seven years is enough.

Oje-Owode is waiting.

Governor, please act.

A government that hears the cry of its most vulnerable citizens earns their trust; a government that acts on that cry earns their gratitude.

     

       --‐--The Scribe

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David Alani Ige (The Scribe)

Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, Ayekooto Media

David Alani Ige is a seasoned journalist, strategic analyst, and the visionary publisher of Ayekooto Media. With a relentless commitment to archiving Nigeria's political realities and delivering the unvarnished truth, he has built a formidable platform for deep-dive reportage and editorial excellence. He is widely known by his readers and peers as "The Scribe".