By Ken Asinobi
…As Hospital Reaches 78.2% Completion
The Project Coordinator of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), Prof. Nenibarini Zabbey, has called on Ogoni communities to take ownership of and protect the Ogoni Specialist Hospital (OSH), as construction of the facility reaches 78.2 per cent completion.
Prof. Zabbey made the call on Tuesday in Port Harcourt during the submission of the report of the Technical Planning Committee established to develop a framework for the operationalization of the hospital.
He described the Ogoni Specialist Hospital as a critical public asset meant to address long-standing healthcare gaps in Ogoniland, stressing that its sustainability depends largely on community vigilance and protection.
“These investments are meant for the people, and their sustainability depends on community ownership, vigilance, and protection,” he said.
The Project Coordinator explained that the establishment of the Technical Planning Committee was necessary to ensure a clear, realistic, and sustainable pathway for the hospital’s operations as construction approaches completion.
As of today, construction of the Ogoni Specialist Hospital has advanced to 78.2 per cent completion. It was therefore necessary to establish this committee to provide a clear and sustainable pathway for its operations,” Prof. Zabbey noted.
He commended the committee for its months of rigorous consultations, assessments, and planning, describing the submission of the report as a major milestone toward bringing the hospital into service.
According to him, the Ogoni Specialist Hospital is a central component of HYPREP’s multilayered public health interventions in Ogoniland, which include the construction of the Buan Cottage Hospital, human biomonitoring studies, strengthening of existing health facilities, regular medical outreaches, and plans to distribute ambulances to medical centres.
Prof. Zabbey emphasized that the specialist hospital would operate as a referral hub, providing quality and specialized healthcare services while reducing the need for residents to seek treatment in distant urban tertiary hospitals.
“The importance of the Specialist Hospital to the public health needs of the Ogoni people and the wider public cannot be overstated,” he said. “When completed, it will significantly enhance the public health landscape in Ogoni and save lives.”
He assured stakeholders that the Project Coordination Office would promptly forward the committee’s report to the HYPREP Governing Council for consideration and approval.
“Once the Council approves the recommendations, we will take appropriate steps, in collaboration with relevant partners, to implement them in the overall public interest,” he added.
The HYPREP PC also expressed appreciation to members of the Technical Planning Committee for what he described as their “painstaking, detailed, and highly professional work,” noting that their contribution has brought Ogoniland closer to realizing a key pillar of its public health recovery efforts.
The Ogoni Specialist Hospital is expected to play a transformative role in improving healthcare delivery and health outcomes across Ogoniland upon completion and full operationalization.
Presenting the report on behalf of the Technical Planning Committee, the chairman, Prof. Christy Mator, said the proposed Ogoni Specialist Hospital was conceived as a direct response to decades of environmental degradation, oil pollution and weak health infrastructure in Ogoni land.
She noted that prolonged contamination of water, soil and air had severely undermined livelihoods, food security and access to quality healthcare, resulting in preventable deaths and worsening poverty.
According to her, the committee undertook extensive consultations, site visits and technical reviews over 14 months to ensure the hospital would be equipped to address these challenges, with a strong focus on affordability and access for indigent Ogoni residents.
She explained that the hospital is designed to deliver specialist, secondary and emergency care, while also supporting health promotion, research, training and the use of telemedicine.
Prof. Mator disclosed that the committee recommended a clear legal and governance framework, including the establishment of an independent, non-profit Ogoni Foundation to own and manage the hospital on behalf of the people.
The report proposed a hybrid public-private operational model, supported by a community-based health insurance scheme to reduce out-of-pocket costs and guarantee access for all Ogoni households. Key recommendations also include prioritizing cancer care and ophthalmology services, recruiting skilled health professionals with incentives to ensure retention, securing reliable power supply, enforcing strict waste management standards, and instituting robust monitoring and evaluation systems.
She concluded that the hospital, once operational, would mark a critical step toward addressing the long-neglected health impacts of environmental pollution in Ogoni land and setting a new benchmark for specialist healthcare delivery in the region.
