Sokoto State Governor, Ahmed Aliyu, as expressed dismay over the condition of the Sokoto Specialist Hospital and the situation under patients were being cared for.
The unscheduled midnight visit however, confirmed the public outcry on the terrible condition of the hospital.
According to the governor’s spokesperson, Abubakar Bawa, Governor Aliyu jettisoned the paraphernalia of his office and rode on a tricycle, popularly known as ‘Keke NAPEP.’
Bawa, who accompanied him on the surprise unscheduled visit narrated that, “the governor arrived the hospital at about midnight and went straight to inspect wards, which were in total darkness.
“The visit which lasted for over an hour, offered the governor an opportunity to see things for himself. Patients in most of the wards visited by the governor were found using personal torch lights because of the absence of electricity in the hospital.
“Some of the nurses we met in the hospital were either sleeping in their stations or sitting outside the wards because of the absence of electricity and the fear of mosquito bites.
“Some of the nurses the governor interviewed revealed that their wards had been without electricity for the past nine months and left with no option than to use torch lights to do our job’, the nurses told us.”
Governor Aliyu expressing dismay over the condition of the hospital said, “this is unbelievable. How could a hospital operate without electricity? See how patients and their relatives are being subjected to all kinds of hazards,” the governor lamented.
He therefore directed the hospital management to see him for further discussion on how to remedy the situation.
Bawa further narrated that, “Coincidentally, the former Chief Medical Director of the hospital Dr. Nuhu S Kabi, was at the hospital at the time the governor was going round the hospital.
“According to the former CMD, the darkness being experienced in the hospital is a result of the past administration’s failure to give the hospital the monthly cash allocations for the past nine months.
“During the visit, patients and their relatives, who were overwhelmed by the unscheduled visit, commended the governor for the surprise visit and prayed for him to succeed in transforming the health sector as well as other sectors of development,” Bawa stated.
