Ezeakukwu Emmanuel Nsoedo
Leadership is not a title but an ability to inspire followership.
Hogan’s definition of leadership focuses on team outcomes. Leadership is the ability to build and maintain a team that performs well relative to its competition. In other words, effective leaders can organize people to outperform other teams.1 This point of view means that leadership is not a title but an ability to inspire followership. Leaders are not people who are nominally in charge. They are people who form teams, units, departments, organizations, or other affiliations to achieve goals.
Anyone who happens on NAUTH’S permanent site would naturally marvel at the institution’s well laid out and manicured environment. The next thing that would probably hit the informed admirer is that a continuous investment of not less twenty years must have culminated to the success of what has taken place at the permanent site.
Since NAUTH was established at the old General hospital Nnewi, there had been hope that the hospital would have moved to its permanent site at Akamili Umudim, Nnewi. But the hope was like a pipe dream because nothing happened at the permanent site to spur hope.
The choking environment at the temporary site impacted the performance of the staff and numbed their sense of commitment. The doctors did not fare any better because the facility lacked the necessary motivational attributes to encourage efficient and effective service delivery to their patients. The patients’ disdain were manifest in their hospital reviews.
When Professor Ugboaja declared his intention to serve as the next Chief Medical Director, haven served as the C-MAC of NAUTH. From the surface, many people did not give him the chance.
What Ugboaja brought to the table were the attributes of a seasoned leader. First, he had studied the key problem of the hospital and concluded that it was environmental. Taken it from there, he articulated that the central theme of his campaign was that he would move to the permanent site.
On of the strongest traits of Ugboaja is his ability to communicate while exuding great charms. In spite of being considered an under dog, he only needed a few minutes to convince the doubters, even though that most of them thought that the promise to move to the permanent site was a little bit too far a propaganda to do it in his first year.
Another big ticket item Ugboaja promised was to elevate the hospital to the status of one of the best hospitals in the country was to invest in its infrastructures both external and interior. That he will partner with critical stakeholders to help execute the vision.
It was indeed the stuff of fairy tale that the permanent that was fallow sprang up to life on the command of Prof Ugboaja. It was incomprehensible to fathom the sources from where to raise the material resources.
However, the greatest asset Prof Ugboaja brought to the mix was himself. He inspired a coalition of the willing, and built a formidable management team to march to the front. Prof Ugboaja led from the front, and showed how versatile an individual could be if the person possessed high degree of leadership quality.
Through leadership he reinforced critical personnel and oriented them towards accomplishing the vision established for the transformation agenda. Having the knowledge of how difficult it was to attract funds to establishment as Nigeria was grasping with economic malaise that impacted funding of projects across board.
When HRH Igwe Dr KON Orizu III came to the permanent site and saw what was going on, he confessed his happiness and initiated his own project, the ICT Centre which had completed and commissioned. Several stakeholders such as Dr Cletus Ibeto, Dr Innocent Chukwuma (Innoson), Sir Emeka Offor, Crown Prince Obi Orizu etc all witnessed transformation in real time.
With the scheduled visit of the Vice President of Nigeria, Kashim Shettima, to the second year anniversary of moving to the hospital to the permanent site, it ought to prick a discerning mind how Ugboaja was able to persuade him to agree to the visit.
Last year, it was the Controlling Minister of Health Prof Mahmoud Ali Pate who was on ground to inaugurate several was the Minister’s visit, he had gone to China with Prof Ugboaja among few other CMDs selected across Nigeria to visit hospital equipment manufacturers.
Prof Ugboaja made they may be viewed as highfalutin in nature, but he did deliver beyond his promises. Below were the itemized projects commissioned by the Minister of Health:
- Specialty building
- Medical Ward Complex
- Accident & Emergency Complex
- Mother & Child Center
- TRAUMA Ward
- Special Treatment Center
- Molecular Laboratory
- Paediatric Emergency building
- Surgical Ward Complex
- Diagnostic Center
11.Tiled Road networks 1,2 3 &4
12 Oxygen Plant - Oxygen Plant
- Cryogenic Oxgen production unit
During the visit, Vision Newspapers noted that the Minister witnessed a systematic integrated development effort that made it possible to move to the permanent site of the hospital in 2023 from the temporary site. The Minister was impressed with the level of achievements recorded by Prof Ugboaja that he said that Ugboaja had come, saw and conquered. When Ugboaja touched on the vision ahead, the Health Minister chimed in eloquently that the CMD, Prof Ugboaja is still conquering.
A lot of digitization processes have been incorporated in the hospital’s operation. Besides the central laboratory, side labs at strategic locations across the medical complexes have made it easier for patients to submit laboratory samples.
Also, the introduction of PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) and RIS (Radiology Information System) has greatly improved the storage and digital transmission of patients’ medical images, such as X-rays, ultrasounds, and CT scans. The X-ray section has transitioned from analog to digital, enabling faster results to improved patient care. These enhanced medical facilities are also positively impacting the training of university medical students who come for clinical postings.
To have a proper perspective on the quality of leadership Prof Ugboaja brought to the permanent site, Vision Newspapers compiled a few of the pictures of then and the the Health Minister Inauguration of projects. Prof Ugboaja is leadership personified in concrete outputs.