Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has paid tribute to his late wife, Stella Obasanjo, who he went everywhere to ensure he was out of prison.
Obasanjo who spoke during the inauguration of 250 bed space, Stella Obasanjo Hospital on Wednesday in Benin, Edo State, also commended Governor Godwin Obaseki for his commitment to the health needs of Edo people.
He said, “My late wife went everywhere to ensure that I came out of prison alive. She was in Vatican City, France and other parts of the world. I had it all coming out of prison. I have worked in the past with the likes of John Oyegun. He was a fantastic permanent secretary. I reminded him recently of some of the things that he practiced on me and the ones I practiced on him.
“We were planning for my wife’s 68th birthday anniversary. We never had that birthday anniversary before she died. It was very painful for me in particular and for all of us in my family.
“So you can appreciate how thankful I am to you for doing this in her honour. I thank the head of government. I thank the members of your government. I thank all the people of Edo State. I had a woman who made tremendous contributions to my achievements in public life,” he added.
While speaking further, Obasanjo lauded Obaseki, saying that he started well and he is finishing well.
“With this hospital you’re assured of first class treatment for any ailment. More grace to the elbows of the governor. With this kind of edifice, I can say that the governor started well and is finishing well.”
In his remarks Obaseki spoke about the various achievements of his administration, especially in the area of health and infrastructure development, why it became necessary for his government to put up a hospital of that nature.
He also lamented about the witch hunt that his government has been experiencing of late from the All Progressives Congress (APC) led Federal Government, even when he is still a sitting governor.
Th Governor stated that work has slowed down in the state because of the activities of distractors, noting that the signatories to the state account have been abducted and taken to Abuja.
Obaseki said, “Like Chief Obasanjo said you don’t know the day you’ll be ill and you’ll need a facility like this. For those of our brothers who go to Abuja to try and frustrate what we’re doing in Edo State, I pray for you and hope that one day, you and your family members won’t need the kind of services that we’re providing here. If you do understand I want to advise that as political leaders we should step back and look more towards our people than our small narrow political interest.
“As I look at this hospital I feel that we demand gratitude on the journey we have travelled together. I want to thank my civil servants particularly those m the ministry of health and our consultants. This wouldn’t have been possible if we did it by ourselves.”
“We tried it before and we knew what happened. This time around we are smarter and we hired the services of those who know how to design hospitals. Hospitals are designed in a special way, not like hotels. It’s not just having a hospital that you don’t know how the cases would come, how the cases would be treated. You can’t walk into Stella Obasanjo hospital if you haven’t been referred from another facility. It means you’re not likely to be treated here if you don’t have health insurance. I believe it’s going to be a viable hospital which will provide the kind of quality care we aspire to have, because I have quality people who worked with me in areas of design and execution.
“I want to say that things may look hazy at this moment but we shouldn’t lose hope. We can’t afford to lose hope. Nobody is going to fix Nigeria for us. Nobody is going to fix our healthcare system for us. We have to do it ourselves and this hospital which has been named in memory of Stella Obasanjo will be a reference point in that journey.” Obaseki said.
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