The Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has commissioned the remodelled and fully furnished 105-bed Omoku Zonal Hospital in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, reaffirming his administration’s commitment to improving access to quality and affordable healthcare across the state.
Governor Fubara unveiled the facility on Friday, August 21, 2026, describing healthcare as a fundamental responsibility of government and stressing that his administration had taken deliberate measures to provide functional medical facilities capable of meeting the needs of residents across different parts of Rivers State.
The governor said the priority given to healthcare was informed by the importance of good health to human productivity and development, noting that while lost wealth could be recovered, regaining lost health was considerably more difficult.
“If you lose wealth, you have lost nothing, because so long as you’re alive, opportunity might come back and you might gain what you have lost. If you lose your health, you have lost something. It’s not an easy thing to regain a health lost,” Fubara said.
He noted that the protection of lives and property, provision of essential services and improvement of citizens’ welfare remained among the primary responsibilities of government.
According to him, the Omoku Zonal Hospital was not designed to serve only residents of Omoku, but would provide secondary healthcare services to communities across the wider Rivers West Senatorial District.
Fubara said the facility would cater for patients from Egbema and Ndoni and could also receive serious cases from parts of Ahoada and neighbouring communities.
“This facility is not just for Omoku. It is a facility that will also cater for the people of Egbema. It can also cater for the people of Ndoni, in serious cases. It can even take care of some part of people in this other side of Ahoada,” he said.
The governor urged residents, traditional rulers, chiefs and community youths to take ownership of the hospital and protect its infrastructure, medical equipment and other facilities from vandalism and theft.
He stressed that the sustainability of the project would depend not only on government but also on the willingness of the host communities to safeguard the facility and ensure that it continued to serve its intended purpose.
Fubara also underscored the strategic importance of the hospital to Omoku, given the town’s position as an important oil and gas centre in Rivers State.
“We need a good health service at this point in Omoku, considering the kind of developments that are coming up here. This is the oil and gas hub of our dear state,” he said.
The governor further stated that his administration remained committed to completing projects to the required standards before commissioning them, saying the government had deliberately avoided commissioning projects without the necessary finishing touches.
He also appealed to the media and members of the public to exercise caution and avoid circulating unverified reports concerning government projects.
Commissioning the hospital as Special Guest of Honour, the Oba of Ogbaland, Dr. Nwachukwu Nnam Obuoha Obi III, commended Governor Fubara for what he described as tangible development projects across the area.
The monarch recalled the poor condition of the Elele-Omoku road before its recent reconstruction, saying the project had changed the perception of residents who had previously felt disconnected from the state government.
“It was a place where we did not feel the presence of government, neither did we know that we are part of Rivers State,” Obi said.
He also cited the completion of the Ahoada-Egbema road and the commissioning of the 33.5-kilometre Elele-Omoku dual-carriageway as evidence of increased government presence in the area.
The royal father took exception to the description of the Omoku Zonal Hospital as merely a remodelled facility, arguing that completing an abandoned or unfinished project effectively amounted to building it.
“I am not comfortable with those words, the choice of words. If you have started to build a house and you could not complete it, you have not done the job. He who completes a house is he who has built the house. That is why I’m comfortable to say: Thank you for building us a hospital,” he said.
The monarch linked the new hospital to the healthcare needs of communities in the area, particularly given the concentration of oil and gas activities and the associated demands on healthcare services.
He said life and good health were inseparable, noting that communities within his domain had experienced several health challenges which, in some instances, had resulted in avoidable deaths.
Obi urged Governor Fubara to sustain the pace of infrastructure development during the remaining period of his administration and encouraged him to remain courageous in pursuing projects capable of leaving lasting legacies.
“Courage is all a man needs. Every man will die one way or the other. The moment you live is what matters. It is not over until it’s over,” the monarch said.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Health, Dr. Vincent Wachukwu, described the Omoku Zonal Hospital as a secondary healthcare facility strategically located in the Orashi region.
Wachukwu said the three-storey hospital was supported by several ancillary facilities, including a laundry, mortuary, staff quarters and parking space capable of accommodating about 100 vehicles.
He disclosed that the contract for the project was awarded on June 11, 2024, adding that the hospital was designed to function as a referral centre for primary and smaller secondary healthcare facilities across Rivers West.
According to him, the catchment area includes Ahoada East, Ahoada West, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Emohua and parts of Ikwerre Local Government Areas.
Wachukwu said the expansion of healthcare infrastructure was particularly necessary because attendance at health facilities in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni had increased by more than 200 per cent over the past three years.
He said attendance rose from about 58,914 patients to nearly 225,400 as of December 2025, indicating growing demand for healthcare services in the area.
He added that deliveries, skilled birth attendance and completion of at least four antenatal-care visits had also increased by about 20 per cent, particularly in Omoku and Okwuzi.
The Permanent Secretary said the new hospital was equipped with outpatient clinics, a pharmacy, ECG and ultrasound rooms, accident and emergency services, a dedicated surgical theatre and radiology services on the ground floor.
The first floor contains laboratories, two operating theatres, a Central Sterilising Services Department, an Intensive Care Unit, paediatric wards and a newborn intensive care unit.
The second floor houses obstetrics and gynaecology wards, delivery suites, a nursery, as well as female general and private wards, while the third floor contains male general and private wards, administrative offices, a library and conference hall.
The project also includes a kitchen and cafeteria, recreational garden, laundry, mortuary and generator house, in addition to staff accommodation.
The staff quarters comprise six one-bedroom units, 12 two-bedroom units and 12 self-contained apartments, providing accommodation for medical and support personnel attached to the facility.
To address the hospital’s power needs, the Rivers State Government provided a 500kVA transformer, 350kVA and 150kVA generating sets, as well as a 90KVA solar power system with inverter batteries.
Wachukwu said the facility would provide accessible and affordable secondary healthcare to residents while also creating opportunities for professional development, clinical training and the posting of medical students.
He expressed confidence that the hospital would strengthen healthcare delivery across the Orashi region and contribute significantly to improving maternal, newborn and child health outcomes.
