Okanyi Enemali : The Deplorable State of Ibaji LG Road Disables us, The Current Design of Idah General Hospital Makes us Sick

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The road to success and the road to failure are almost the same.  Okanyi Enemal is out again to say “ no matter how far we have gone on a bad road, we can still turn around for good. 

 
The one an only community reporter Okanyi Enemali toured round two local government in Kogi east namely Idah LG and Ibaji LG with a view to unveil negative state of affairs of the people at the rural areas until it begins to attract the attention of discerning minds or authorities for prompt action. It is indeed an ample opportunity for the vision, values and presence of government be felt at the grassroot level. 

 Okanyi  assessment of the main access road to Ibaji LG showed that users bear the true cost of the poor road maintenance. 
Essentially, bad roads mean that drivers spend more on their cars and road users spend more on transport fares. Transporting goods from Ibaji to Idah let lone to talk about Anambra State also becomes more expensive. This no doubt  contribute tremendously to  long-term inflation problem experienced today.
Without Mincing words,  The effect is lower consumption of goods and services, especially in rural areas; and with a little over 50% of the population situated in rural areas, the effect on trade cannot be favourable.  
 
As at the time of filing this report the only access road which connects Ibaji LG to  Idah LG, the headquarters of Igalaland and the traditional seat of Attah  is at  the risk of  being cut off from Igala Kingdom, perhaps from Kogi State. This is sad because of the distance needed to cover to reach them, and also because the roads leading to Ibaji Suburbs are not paved and so making it much harder to access them. Consequently, these areas have challenges and limitations in getting essential goods, commodities, and services delivered to them. The difficulty in accessing these areas also reduces their chances for commercialisation and industrialisation as one of the largest rice producing farmers in Nigeria. The arable land is profound but poor road is the bane.
As far as Okanyi Enemali's finesse in community reporting is concerned , no part of the society is immuned to its beaming searchlight. Idah General Hospital was on his spotlight. No matter how bad an illness is, the hospital may even worse. 

The idea of making hospital less destabilizing, more conducive to patients, seems a difficult task to achieve in our general hospitals particularly Idah General Hospital. It is appalling from the level of terrain of the land space to the moribund structures, talkless of an avalanche of obsolete equipment in this age of unprecedented Information and Communication Technology. In fact , it can only correlates with a society that does not value democracy and good health.

Okanyi said “To whom it may concern illness is the opposite of freedom, just as bad road is the brother of disability. Idah General Hospital is over fifty (50) years now. It caters for the health needs of about Four (4) Local Governments in Kogi East , Ibaji , Idah, Igalamela/Odolu and Ofu. However the new old age of the hospital remains a shadow of itself talkless of addressing the good health and well being of the people “.

“ All hands must be on deck to revive this gory nature of our health institutions in Kogi state particularly the Igalaland. The more serious a disturbing illness or road is, the more important it is for you to fight back, mobilizing all your resources, physically, spiritually, emotionally and so forth to combat it, make the people to be proactive, and living  witness of the presence( impact) of the government in their respective domain at the home front democracy “ : he added

Inah Stephen, Lokoja
Reporting for Igala Community Radio

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