For residents of Akufo in Ido Locla Government Area, Oyo State, the presence of a health centre would have given the needed medical attention. But for them, this is not so. YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE, after a visit to the community, reports on the deteriorating state of the health centre in the community which was erected by government after expending huge financial resources and the refusal of the residents to patronise it.
Akufo community in Ido Local government Area of Oyo state is 50 minutes ride on a motorcycle from Apete Motor Garage but the difference in the two communities is much more than that 50 minutes ride; it is like a life span apart. Life in the rustic, agrarian community of Akufo is not different from that of many other villages except that they enjoy power supply.
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In this sleepy community, living and activities are at low ebb, there is no influx of people to the community and the only source of commercial transportation is on the motorcycle. Also, the people do not have toilet facilities as over 90 per cent of homes are the old mud houses and colonial storey buildings aside the palace of the Alakufo of Akufo who doesn’t live in the palace but resumes there to attend to duties in the morning.
Though the health centre itself according to the Alakufo of Akufo, Oba Hammed Olabamiji Thomas, has been in the community long before his reign, the people of the community have never enjoyed its presence and continue to suffer seriously due to continuous inability to access basic medical care. The people had believed that the edifice which has the layout of general hospitals built in other towns will be a source of succor and a haven that will save lives and attend to emergencies. But this was not the case when it was built and decades later, the story hasn’t changed. The dream of the villagers and their belief that the presence of the health centre symbolises affordable health care within easy access is a dream that has turned to a mirage and as the years go by and many have lost hope.
This is not surprising; the physical condition in which Nigerian Tribune met the health centre on a visit will rid the most optimistic of human of hope; the hospital which is behind the first one smaller one first built in the community was locked up. The building hidden behind overgrown bushes has a footpath that is in the middle of tall shrubs that will conveniently hide a reptile of any size. Indeed, it is a glaring picture of deterioration caused by neglect and abandonment. No one needs to be told that the complex had not been in use for years.
And being the only basic amenity that the community can lay claim to, it is not surprising that many needed no prompting before they started narrating their ordeal. They deem it a great injustice that the structure is a part of their daily lives but is just taking space as it adds no value to their existence as a community or as individuals.
“The issue of health care in this community is one that is quite funny. We have a big structure that has been taken over by weed. And when we have health emergencies, we have to go to other communities and this often leads to casualties. The big building at the back have never been used while for the small one in front, it was recently that they gave us one medical personnel.
“The worker does not live here with us, she comes in and leaves after work. And she doesn’t even have what is needed in the hospital; you have seen where she works, is that how a hospital should look? When we have emergency, the place to go is not our health centre but to find transportation out of here immediately,” Pa Paul Ogunrinu stated.
For the women that have to give birth, the situation is worse as it is usually a thin line between life and death; they have to be taken to other communities while in labour and this is not an easy feat on the kind of transportation readily available to them. Speaking to Nigerian Tribune, Tayo Mogaji, one of the few motorcycle riders that ply the community stated that, it is better narrated than witnessed.
“I can confirm to you that people in this community are suffering. I have carried more than one on emergency out of here and you cannot but feel their pains. It is not east at all because for someone that is even healthy, traveling out of here on okada is not easy. I have to depend on medication because of the effect plying this route has on the body; it is not easy coming here, you will notice that not all motorcycle riders come here and you didn’t get one until you moved came up the road to our side.
“Those that brave it down there will charge you exorbitantly because it is a journey that takes its toll on the body. Only few of us ply the route and anytime you have to carry a sick person, it needs all the experience you have to be fast and still maintain your balance on this road. I always pity the people because it is a difficult and gut wrenching experience filled with pain and fear. Often, I find myself praying along with them on the way,” he stated.
Another motorcycle rider who identified himself as Muri confirmed Mogaji’s assertion when he stated that, ‘ I don’t go to Akufo, I only did once because I needed to collect money from someone who said he’s stranded in the village, it is only am emergency that can take me there, it’s like travelling to Oyo from Ibadan but on the old road not the expressway. It is not worth it and the people in that community are really trying.
“The only day you see people going there is on market days which I think is once in two weeks, I am not sure of the exact time. Those people live in a town that is nothing but a village. Going there is not worth it for a motorcycle owner except you are taking a stranger that is willing to pay the price,” he stated.
A woman who identified herself as Iya ologi stated that childbirth for women in the community is usually a period of pain as they can see a health centre but cannot use it. “Falling into labour here is a problem; you can’t rush into the health centre near you and getting a bike is another challenge, if you get one, how you will sit and manage the pain is another problem, that’s what we face here. It is a continuous threat to lives and often, pregnant women are advised to go and stay in town when their delivery period is near,” she explained.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that the health centre was one of the medical centres rehabilitated by the Federal Government years back. But after this, no one still used the facility. According to information gathered, the Akufo health centre was one of the projects that kick-started under the Conditional Grants Scheme in 2008. It was the collaboration between the Oyo state government and the Federal Government that refurbished the initial building and added the two additional structures in line with general hospital structures across the state.
The new complex had facilities like a generating set, laboratories, theatre, borehole and medical equipment. But now after being unused for long, the health centre is in a state of decay; sagging ceiling, thread bare floors, rotten door frames and windows, cracked walls, overgrown bushes and dirty floor filled with animal dung and human waste.
Door hinges are falling apart and many doors have become permanently jammed with ceilings covered with hornet nests. So aside being a haven for animals, the center has become a multipurpose building as it has no locks and many actually go there to sit while the new building is the restroom for many.
Investigations revealed that the health worker who comes daily to the health center was assigned by the Ido Local Government Council but there’s little that she can do with the lack of facilities and the major building locked up behind. It is difficult for her to work without assistance or needed equipment though the people attest to the fact that she comes daily and is friendly as well as accommodating.
“She tries her best but what can she do here in this barren place. She doesn’t even have access to the building behind which is the major clinic that should be opened up for use before it falls apart. Can any individual build such and abandon it? If this place is not going to be used, why was it built here? I don’t understand why we have this and we still suffer and I don’t know when government will listen to us?” a woman who Nigerian Tribune met at the centre but refused to give reveal her identity stated.
The Alakufo of Akufo, Oba Thomas, had a lot to say about the situation of his community when Nigerian Tribune paid him a visit in his palace. He stated that he had made a lot of efforts to ensure the situation doesn’t remain same way, adding that the efforts had not yielded good results. According to him, the community has suffered so much to let the government know how it is suffering from lack of medical care in spite of having a health center.
“The clinic has been in existence before I ascended the throne. I learnt the old one was functioning before a political fight during Adelabu time and later, the new one was built; I think it was during Kolapo Isola’s administration in Oyo state but it had never been used. Why would government spend so much to put this up and refuse to use it? Subsequent governments have also done nothing about it despite the huge investment; all the things put in place no longer work, the generator, borehole and lab equipments have given up without use and the building is falling apart.
“When we have medical emergencies, we have to take the person out to other communities like Apete and Ologuneru and in serious cases, Adeeyo Hospital or the University College Hospital, you can confirm that those places aren’t near here, even Apete is not that close. And because I don’t want my people to suffer, I have taken steps; I wrote to UCH, inviting them to take it over so that this rot will be curbed and they promised to do that but we are yet to see them.
“The council knows about our plight because we carry them along. I gave a copy of the hospital’s response to the Local Government Chairman and he also promised to support our cause. The bad situation of our road makes it worse, if the roads are good, at least our people will be able to get to other communities quickly and easily when there are emergencies.
“I am calling on government to come to our aid and open the health centre up; they should deploy workers here and fix the road so the workers will be encouraged to come. The government needs to quickly step in before the structure which it spent so much money on will decay completely. We have been expecting them to answer us for so long and I refuse to give up and lose hope, the Alakufo said.
The chairman of Iddo Local Government Area, Mr Wahab Oladejo in his reaction told Nigerian Tribune that the Akufo situation is one that had been giving him sleepless nights because he doesn’t like the fact that the place is in the terrible situation in spite of the fact that he inherited the situation.
He stated that even before his election, he had been responsible for clearing the bushes around the health centre.
“I have challenges on that health centre which is even more pronounced by the time I got into office. All the medical staff fell under the Local Council Development Authority that was carved out of my council. The health centre falls directly under my jurisdiction but I have no staff to work there.
“I have written to ask for approval to recruit ad-hoc staff and I’m still waiting for approval. When I came into office, I met a letter asking that UCH takes over the health center but it wasn’t approved because they thought it was selling out their asset but I was of the opinion that government is the same and the interest of the people is paramount.
“So I approved but till now, we are yet to hear from them. Another issue is that of patronage, the community people do not patronise the place so putting a staff there has to also do with logistics and demand.
“I am not far from that community, I always visit to see what’s going on and today, I and the doctor in charge will still get there. We are committed to the welfare of Akufo people, that is why we were elected and I’m working assiduously to ensure that health centre is staffed and kept running especially with the kind of investment that was put in place and state of the art equipment,” the chairman stated.
And as the people of Akufo groan under the weight of a health facility that is locked up, the issue of health challenges in interior villages continues to be a source of concern as many have primary healthcare centres that are mere buildings as they are not utilized for the good of the host communities.
and then