Sylvia ThankGod-Amadi

The journey of 100 kilometres, they say, begins with a step. The mere determination to embark on a journey, marks the defeat of any phobia for such a task, as each step, no matter how little but steady, reduces the distance of the destination.
Many people especially leaders who have found themselves in positions of authority, tend to be easily frightened by the enormity of tasks necessary to turn around the fortunes of their subjects. They fear to take the bold initiative to start, because they imagine myriads of giants on their way to hinder their purported efforts.
Their foremost fear stems from the fact that such tasks are so tall a dream. Perhaps, it is a project that would exceed their tenure in office and so, they are in a hurry to embrace and welcome a defeat of its eventual sustainability. This crop of leaders forget easily that governance is a continuity.
Years past, when Dr Peter Odili controlled the button of leadership in Rivers State, expectations were high that Rivers State would boast of medical institutions that could attract the attention of other states and beyond. The only reason for this great expectation of course, was that the captain of the state, Odili, is a medical practitioner who operates a functional hospital, coupled with the fact that the state had a strong financial base capable of sustaining such project no matter the size.
Unfortunately, that expectation was dashed as Rivers people did not only lack good medicare, they travelled out in search of good medicare, thereby boosting the revenue of such places where their medical needs were met. For our own leaders, making Rivers State a medical haven of sort, was considered gigantic and so, daunting.
Although subsequent administration of the state did give face lift to medical institutions in the state, especially the primary health care centres, the real content of the project still left much to be desired as many doctors posted to those health institutions could not see cogent reasons to be resident, making the beneficiaries of their services to still go out in search of medicare. Even when the doctors were available, the institutions were not adequately equipped to meet the needs of the grassroots dwellers.
For leaders with visions and missions, giant, laudable projects are never a threat, they are rather propelled by the joy that it is for the development of the people. Such is the like of the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, whose administration is geared at making Rivers State a haven for medical tourism in Nigeria. The disbursement of the sum of $4 million for the upgrading of facilities at the Braithwaite Specialist Memorial Hospital in Port Harcourt, a project estimated to gulp a total sum of $6 million, is an expression of the readiness of the governor to make real his words.
The State Chief Executive has revealed plans to build a new specialist hospital specifically for treatment of ailments such as cancer, kidney, heart and liver diseases. The hospital structure is designed to accommodate a helipad as well as other state of the art facilities.
Governor Wike’s resolve to take medicare in the state to the next level, must have been propelled by the need to stem the spate of foreign trips by Nigerians for healthcare services as well as conserve foreign exchange for the country.
The release of fund by this administration for the completion of an ultra-modern Mother and Child Hospital in Port Harcourt, which is expected to be completed in four months, remains a clear indication of the governor’s interest and desire to bequeath a legacy of good health to his generation  and posterity. His words, “For us, our major focus has shifted from infrastructure to health and education, … we are committed to improved healthcare for our people”.
Apart from the construction of standard zonal hospitals across the state which is intended to improve healthcare at the grassroots, the setting up of a college of medical sciences at the Rivers State University, the state teaching hospital, as well as signing into law, the bill to actualize it, is to say the least, a legacy project.
Little wonder, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) President, Prof. Mike Ogirima, endorsed the special award and recognition proposed by the National Private Doctors Association to be bestowed on the governor. He described as massive, the intervention of Governor Wike in the renovation of otherwise moribund secondary healthcare institutions in the state with the simultaneous rehabilitation of several general hospitals.
Governor Wike may not have been a medical doctor, but his understanding and acknowledgement of the place of good health in the general wellbeing of humanity, has given him an edge over his peers in the appropriation of state’s scarce resources towards health for more wealth.
By investing more in health and education,Wike exhibits a rare prowess in creating wealth out of a supposedly dry land. He not only seeks to make medicare available for his people, as a statutory obligation of any responsible government, he is out to boost the revenue of the state as well as conserve foreign exchange for the country at large through harnessing the medical potential of the state.
No doubt,  if our potentials are properly harnessed, Rivers State will be the number one tourism destination. Luckily the Speaker of the State house of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani, has said that the legislature under his watch is poised to provide laws that will drive the state tourism potentials.
I think Governor Wike only needs our support to take the state to its expected destination. With the establishment of a specialist hospital  in the state to tackle ailments such as cancer, kidney, liver and heart diseases, it is obvious that many Nigerians, including leaders who had always opted for oversea medical trips, for lack of standard hospitals and personnels for such cases, would have a rethink.