By  Laurence Ani

They may exist in walled-off spaces, but universities have long proved to be potent agents of social and economic change in communities and towns where they are located. Examples abound, from Nsukka to Ife, Zaria, Uyo, Ekpoma, and several other once sedate suburban locales transformed into bustling cities by the presence of a university. It is thus understandable why the recent report of the National Universities Commission’s recognition of the State University of Medical and Applied Sciences, Igbo-Eno, in Enugu State, has elicited much excitement. In a few years’ time, Igbo-Eno will get a similar boost. But the soon to be inaugurated university doesn’t excite merely in the sense that it presents a huge job prospects for the youth, or the potential economic opportunities it would create in the immediate and surrounding communities. As the country contends with the reality of an unprecedented migration of doctors and associated health professionals, the new medical university offers a real chance to bridge the doctor-patient ratio and bring the deficit to an acceptable level.

The anticipated impact could be gleaned from this comment made by Prof. Malachy Okwueze, deputy chief of staff to the Enugu State governor, few days after the NUC recognition: “The existing Enugu State University of Science and Technology get over two thousand applications from our youths to study medicine, but only a paltry fifty applicants are offered access to study medicine at the end. Even the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, the federal university in Enugu State, offers only about one hundred and eighty candidates admission into medicine, leaving the dreams of thousands of our youths to study the course dashed year after year.

This is despite the deficit in the number of medical doctors and nurses required to optimize medical and healthcare for our people.” A survey published in 2019 by the National Bureau of Statistics on the ratio of doctors  in contrast with the population of patients across the country lends further perspective to the excitement arising from the recognition granted the medical university. The report indicates that Enugu State with a doctor-patient ratio of 1:1,812 is the fourth best in the country, coming only behind the Federal Capital Territory (1 doctor to every 1,267 resident population), Edo State (1:1,416) and Lagos State (1:1,709). 

It is particularly instructive that Enugu posted a record far better than those notched by resource-rich states and others with much higher earnings from the federation account. Some other data from the NBS report includes the following: Rivers – 1 doctor to 3,661; Delta – 1 doctor to 4,582; Kaduna – 1 doctor to 4,497; Akwa Ibom – 1 doctor to 7,635; and Katsina at the bottom of the log with 1 doctor to 53,274.

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Another statistics that also highlights the successes recorded by the Ugwuanyi administration in the health sector is a UNDP survey in 2019 which shows that Enugu State has Nigeria’s seventh best Life Expectancy rate at 62.6 years. These reports are just a few strong validation for the robust upgrade which the Governor Ugwuanyi administration is implementing in the health sector – and the requisite staffing it has ensured. They are yet proof that although investments in the health sector may be difficult to track owing to the intangible nature of outcomes, but statistics such as these offer an incisive view.

Indeed, such results stem from sustained investments in health over the years. And it shows why the National Bureau of Statistics listed Enugu among 10 states with the most expenditure on health, in 2020. This was despite the adverse impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw a massive scale down of capital projects by state governments. As gratifying as these statistics may be, it says a lot about Governor Ugwuanyi’s character and work ethic that he seldom revels in the accompanying accolades. His comment at the formal opening of the reconstructed Udi General Hospital helps reaffirm this: “We remain committed to our campaign promises and the social contract and unrelenting in our bid to change the narratives in our state health system.” 

Although the decision behind the choice of the university’s rural location might not have been explicitly stated, it is without doubt consistent with the governor’s governance philosophy that major capital projects shouldn’t be limited to cities. Such inclination is exhibitionist, more often than not, and is shaped apparently by the knowledge that media attention and scrutiny tend to be focused on capital cities of states. But Ugwuanyi believes that rural areas are just as deserving of the good life as city folks, and should not be places politicians only visit to solicit votes during elections. This conviction reflects as well in a profound statement he made at his inauguration: “Enugu State under us will pay special attention to rural development because majority of our people live in the rural area”.

That was no posturing. The mindset is similarly evident in the construction and continuous upgrade of primary health facilities sited in remote rural locations. The aim is to ensure that residents of rural communities are not compelled to travel to larger towns and cities for medical treatment that should, ordinarily, be available at primary health centres.

Ani is a senior communications aide to the governor of Enugu State