• Donates self-harvester equipment to hospital
Checkmating the activities of kidnappers is now the major concern of the Ebonyi State, as Governor David Umahi has charged new coordinators of Development Centres to effectively address the menace.

The governor also donated self-harvester blood analysis equipment worth more than N10 million to the Federal Teaching Hospital (FETHA) Abakaliki.

He told the 64 coordinators, including a physically challenged, who were inaugurated at the Akanu Ibiam International Conference Centre in Abakaliki on Monday, that anyone who failed to do so risked trouble with his administration.

“If you allow kidnapping to take place in your development centre…or they take somebody from one development centre to the other, the coordinators in the two areas are in trouble. You have to do so because you ought to know the bad people in your areas,” Umahi warned.

The governor advised the coordinators to eschew violence, but close ranks with stakeholders to sustain peace and development in their localities.  He warned them against discriminatory tendencies and directed that efforts should be made to bring back all estranged members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to their original family.

Umahi, an engineer, also ordered the coordinators to recover all funds and properties stolen by politicians and civil servants in their development centres within one month.

“It is a must; and, after one month, if you have not recovered it, we will review our relationship with you,” he said, stressing that his administration has no room for corruption.

He charged them to acquire land and engage in agriculture, adding that the quantity of agricultural produce from their areas would be one of the parametres for assessing their performances.

The governor directed that “all coordinators are to ensure that every child of ours that is supposed to be in school must be in school.

“ No child of school age in the state is expected to be seen loitering during school hours,” Umahi stressed. He challenged parents to ensure that they also attend to the academic needs of their children.

Umahi maintained that at least 20 per cent of the total earnings of the Development Centres must be dedicated to project execution, which should be jointly carried out with the caretaker committee Chairmen of Local Government Areas.

In her reaction, the physically challenged person, who is the Coordinator of the Afikpo North Development Centre, Mrs. Ugochukwu Okoh, said she was very impressed with the governor for appointing her, promising that she would prioritise agriculture in her Development Centre.

Meanwhile, as part of the plan to provide quality healthcare delivery to the people, the state government donated self-harvester equipment worth more than N10 million to the FETHA. The equipment is to be used for blood analysis.

Handing over the equipment at the hospital, Umahi, who was represented by the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Daniel Umezuruike, said that the equipment would serve as screening apparatus for blood donation, blood transfusion and treatment of diseases by the doctors.

He said he discovered that the hospital was lacking the equipment, which he described as ‘very vital.’