The intervention of the Governor Chibuike Amaechi-led administration in the health, education and other sectors to uplift the living standards of the people and revitalise economic activities in the State has been hailed as a step in the right direction.
Speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt, Provost of the Rivers State College of Health Science and Technology (RIVCOHSTECH), Dr Nnanna Victor Onyekwere, said “it’s a very good thing that has happened to Rivers State, because before this time these sectors were seriously neglected over the years”.
He lauded current efforts by the present administration towards making life better for the present and future generations in the State, noting that “from what we see now the primary schools are the same with what you see in any other part of the world, the health centers are also of standard. I think it’s a well thought out plan in the right direction”.
Noting that the present government has demonstrated political will in tackling critical issues affecting the State, the don, acknowledged that a lot still remains to be done in the area of improving the level of manpower needed to move the State forward.
“We still have the issues of manpower to tackle, to supplement what he’s doing in infrastructure; people to teach in these schools that have been completed, health personnel to work within hospitals, health centers, and other areas. The earlier they started planning towards it, to train these people, the better,” he said.
On the state of healthcare in the State, Dr Onyekwere stated that with increased funding for the health sector and the renewed drive at infrastructural overhaul, the sector has witnessed tremendous progress.
“There is a lot of money pumped into training and retraining of health personnel on ground. The general lack of morale is no longer the issue. Morale is high now, there appears to be a drive to get it right. Though it will take some time to get it right in terms of infrastructure; at least for now morale is there, salaries are now being paid, nobody is being owed at the end of the month,” he emphasised.
Admitting that the state of health of the President is impacting negatively on the polity, Dr Onyekwere urged Nigerians to pray for President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua before raising constitutional issues regarding the governance of the country as it was “inhuman to ask a man to hand over while still on the sick bed”.
The Provost disclosed that the management of the college has devised a five-year staff development plan aimed at repositioning the institution to make it more viable, financially self-sufficient, responsive to societal needs and a center of excellence.
“Our attention has shifted to staff development; we had a retreat at Omoku for the senior staff where we worked out a 5-year development plan for the college, basically aimed at repositioning our college to be financially self-sufficient, responsive to societal needs and also to be a college of academic excellence,” he stressed and added that 20 new staff were recently employed to minimise the number of casuals.