Dr. Ugboaja:Promise made, promise kept, and much more value-added

By Ezeakukwu Emmanuel Nsoedo

When the incumbent Chief Medical Director (CMD) went about canvassing for the position, he articulated his vision, which for all purposes, appeared generic and bland to a discerning mind because it sounded too good to be true.

Why would one characterize his vision as such? It is natural for someone vying for such a position to teleguide their pitch along the apparent interests of those they needed as supporters for their causes.

Interestingly, Dr. Ugboaja’s selection from a high caliber pool of professionals indicated that he had the intellect and the charisma to scale the multiple tests and interviews to emerge with the ultimate price.

Many individuals who felt otherwise about his candidacy did not fail to remind everyone who cared to listen that his selection would be another Deja Vu in the making due to the serial failure to make something out of the permanent site.

Dr. Ugboaja’s ascendancy to CMD of NAUTH could not have come at the worst period in the world. A twin crisis of immense proportion marred the inception of his tenure. One was the raging COVID-19 pandemic that truncated the usual way of life worldwide. The next issue was the intense insecurity that pervaded the entire Southeast, impacting the socio-economic structure in the zone.

It was under these challenging environments that Dr. Ugboaja waded into finding ways to fulfill the cardinal promise he professed to accomplish. And that was to MOVE NAUTH to its permanent site.

Dr. Ugboaja is a natural leader with a massive dose of charisma. He is, above all, a team player. In a very short period of his tenure, he blended all disparaging factions within the institution to act as a unit focused on making his vision a reality.

He addressed numerous issues that led to apathy within the institution’s staff. He provided the equipment, uniform, and paraphernalia needed by the medical units. He solved the problems of salaries, including arrears, promotions, regularization of staff’s status, etc.

Dr. Ugboaja has had the most formidable and dynamic management team since NAUTH came into existence. He led by example by exhibiting a sense of camaraderie in their relationship. It is effortless to assess it by the near absence of internal friction that used to be the order of the day in the hospital.

What Dr. Ugboaja and his team achieved in the short period they have been together could be measured against other top-tier achievers worldwide, and he would still be up there considering the unique context of the Nigerian factors.

The NAUTH CMD had not rested since he assumed office in 2021. He is a workaholic with a keen vision and is very calculating in chase of what the hospital needs. He has impressed so many stakeholders that they have become his leading cheerleaders.

When the new CMD of NAUTH, Dr. Ugboaja, assumed office, he immediately set up tours of the permanent site. The place was devoid of any infrastructural presence and barely alive. It was a bushy encampment for birds and animals. To have a sense of what Dr. Ugboaja and his team have so far, see the itemized structures for commissioning below:

1. Specialty building
2. Medical Ward Complex
3. Accident & Emergency Complex
4. Mother & Child Center
5. TRAUMA Ward
6. Special Treatment Center
7. Molecular Laboratory
8. Paediatric Emergency building
9. Surgical Ward Complex
10. Diagnostic Center
    11.Tiled Road networks 1,2 3 &4
    12 Oxygen Plant
11. Oxygen Plant
12. Cryogenic Oxgen production unit

Within a few weeks of the assumption of office, Dr, Ugboaja and his team plunged into action by constructing multiple facilities, including road pavements, in the preceding paragraph. The amazing thing was that most reasonable people in Nigeria understood that the federal government was experiencing a severe cash crunch. Therefore, the need for money from various institutions from the same source is a given, and many have gone there and come out empty-handed. If it was possible to access funds, how come the past CMDs couldn’t succeed? It only takes the ability of one who possesses the positive Midas touch.

Only Dr. Ugboaja could explain how he was able to source the magnitude of funds deployed to the magnificent projects that had transformed the fallow-like encampment into a sight to beholden. Dr. Ugboaja and his team performed an extraordinary feat, and the Presidency will be there to record the success on May 19th, 2023.

From the day Ugboaja assumed office, he had turned the permanent site into a beehive of activities with engineers, technicians, casual workers, and the institution’s staff. The CMD and his team ensured that the various stakeholders were kept abreast of the ongoing development at every turn of the milestones recorded until the upcoming stamp of approval on May 19th, 2023.

It is befitting to acknowledge Dr. Joseph O. Ugboaja (Ochinawnata, Ifesinafaeme) for his uncommon talent as a leader, a builder, and a go-getter with a special dose of charisma. It is safe to acknowledge that Dr. Ugboaja made a promise, kept the promise, and far-surpassed everyone’s expectations to the Glory of God.