By Ezeakukwu Emmanuel Nsoedo
The Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Kashim Shettima, will be arriving NAUTH Nnewi to join the institution’s management and staff, the hosting communities, as they joyfully welcome His Excellency to the occasion.
The CMD of NAUTH, Professor Joseph Ugboaja, seems to constantly hit the bull’s eyes in all his endeavors to advance the place of the institution at the zenith of services and expert-driven care delivery.
It is well to recall that the movement to the permanent site was more miraculous to the hospital staff and the hosting communities because of lack a of infrastructure and facilities that would host a hospital of NAUTH’s caliber.
The only person who believed and was adamant about achieving the improbable feat was Professor Ugboaja. He made it a centerpiece of his campaign that he needed to move to a hospital environment that the patients and caregivers would love. That was his mantra while canvassing for the opportunity to serve.
The permanent site had barely received an attention except that it had been a fenced fallow land that was overgrown by weeds and bushes.
That discouraging environment rather than dampen his drive had instead became an alchemy that motivated an innovative muse in Professor Ugboaja.
The rest they said is now history. A befitting institution has emerged, but, with Professor Ugboaja, it is just the beginning to sustain and scale up to the next level.
This is the stage when strategic relationships would likely lead to better things to come. This is the stage where attracting that key stakeholder becomes difficult to realize.
There are so many institutions a Health Minister could justifiable visit while attending to other myriad issues on his plate of to-do lists.
For the Health Minister to embark on the type of visit he made to NAUTH, he had to be convinced that it would be a mutually beneficial visit.
The working visit made by the Controlling Minister of Health to NAUTH was the type of visit an enterprising Minister like Professor Muhammad Ali Pate would cherish.
The visit showcased the enormous projects executed under the leadership of Professor Ugboaja, and his team. A leader like Professor Ugboaja understood that action speaks louder than noise. In a world where time is a precious commodity, the likes of Professor Muhammad Ali Pate would easily partner with a CMD that is enveloped in pursuit of a tangible vision.
On this occasion as NAUTH celebrates the second anniversary of its movement to the permanent site, the dynamic CMD and his team have upped the ante by getting the Vice President of Nigeria to accept to visit NAUTH. Professor Ugboaja has crafted an enduring vision that the Vice President could embrace.
As the hospital community await the arrival of his Excellency Kashim Shettima and his entourage, they must appreciate indefatigable CMD for not only attracting these apex leaders to NAUTH, but to Nnewi Federal Constituency at large.
It is noted that a leader such as Shettima would not pass the opportunity to visit the factory of the first Nigerian vehicle manufacturer, Innoson Vehicle, at Nnewi during the visit. It is part of the tangible and mutually beneficial interests arriving from the visit.