Tony Osauzo, Benin

In less than one week, civil society groups in Edo State protested for the second time yesterday against alleged privatisation of the state Specialist Hospital.

They alleged that the hospital built with tax payers money has been privatised by the present government of the state led by Governor Godwin Obaseki.

Speaking to journalists, Coordinator General of the CSOs, Omobude Agho, asked people of the state to join effort with them to unravel the ownership of the new the hospital.

“The governor after privatisation of the hospital gave it to his friend from Lagos, one Dr Moye as if the hospital is his personal property. We are rejecting this new privatisation method by the present government of Edo State.

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“His target at the end of the day is that the children of the poor can not access good healthcare. The primary purpose of government is the provision of security and welfare, on this one, our governor has failed totally”, Omobude said.

The CSOs also accused the state government of plan to privatise education in the state, a situation they alleged, would prevent children of the poor from accessing education.

“We have met with the officers of state government yesterday and they tried to use grammar to confuse us because they know we are not educated but they failed to realise that we are not stupid”, Omobude said and observed that the removal of state from the nomenclature of the hospital was all to legalise the privatisation process.

But the Edo State Government  has said that it wholly owns and manages the Specialist Hospital, positioned to provide effective and efficient healthcare services to the people.

The government in a statement by the Special Adviser to Governor Obaseki on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, flayed protests over the ownership of the hospital, noting that the hospital remains an asset of the state.