Anambra community disowns indigenes fighting against teaching hospital annex project

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Anambra community disowns indigenes fighting against teaching hospital annex project

Members of Umuogem community in Ufuma, Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State, have disowned few indigenes of the town for fighting against the establishment of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH) annex in the area.

There have been controversy over the teaching hospital annex project, following a recent call by some members of the community who insisted that the project was a plot to corner community land.

The community had in December 2023 allocated 11 hectares of land for the project. A memorandum of understanding between the community and the hospital which was sighted and showed that the land was to be used for the annex.

The project was attracted by a son of the community, Prof Joseph Ugboaja, who is also the Chief Medical Director of the hospital.

But following the recent argument where some members of the community were accusing Ugboaja of plot to covert community land for himself, the Board of trustees of the community has backed Ugboaja, hailing him for attracting the project.

In a solidarity protest by member of the community at the weekend, indigenes praised Ugboaja for attracting the project, while referring to those opposed to it as enemies of progress.

A press statement made available to the media by Prof BC Nwankwo, Chairman of BOT, the community, after the protest, he urged all to disregard those fighting against the project.

He said: “The Board of Trustees watched with admiration today as our people mobilized themselves and rose in unison against the retrogressive elements and cabals in the town and administered curses on all of them who are bent on keeping the village in the dark.

“The Protest which was at the instance of the Umuogem Ufuma Welfare Association has shown truly that our people are not foolish and averse to development as has been conveyed in the social media by some individuals who have sworn that our people will not see the light of the day.”

Many indigenes of the community who spoke to journalists during the protest expressed happiness about the plan to build an annex of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH) in the community.

The Board of trustees of the community also reiterated their support for NAUTH and its CMD, to ensure actualisation of the project.

It was earlier gathered that the federal government plans to begin work on the project soon. The hospital management insisted that their only aim is to ensure that healthcare services is brought closer to communities.