What was once touted as a beacon of healthcare progress built during the tenure of former Governor Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa as Commissioner for Health under the Chief James Onanefe Ibori administration, has now descended into an embarrassing display of government neglect and mismanagement.
From Ejeme-Unor in Aniocha South to Owa-Alidinma in Ika North East, to Ndemili in Ndokwa west of Delta State, abandoned health centers and decaying infrastructure paint a bleak picture of a state failing its people.
At the Primary Health Center in Owa-Alidinma, a government-provided ambulance sits in slow decay, unused, unmaintained, and forgotten.
Once intended to save lives, it now serves as a grim reminder of a system that has left its promises to rot.
Worse still, the facility itself has reportedly been converted into a haven for criminal elements and transient squatters, stripping the community of not only a much-needed health resource but also a sense of safety and dignity.
Locals say the center, once expected to provide essential services, has become a guest house for “criminals and abokis,” leaving many wondering how such a situation could be allowed to fester unchecked.
In Owa-Alidinma, the picture is no better.
According to sources, these healthcare centers, once reportedly well-equipped to deliver quality medical services, have been systematically stripped, vandalized, and looted.
Much of the equipment is believed to have been either sold off, diverted to private clinics, or quietly absorbed into facilities owned by government officials and their associates.
Despite significant investment, including a solar-powered borehole project meant to support health service delivery, the infrastructure stands idle, unutilized, unmaintained, and ultimately, useless.
The supposed beneficiaries of this project, the local population, continue to suffer in silence as essential healthcare remains out of reach.
This gross dereliction of duty raises serious questions about the accountability of the Delta State Ministry of Health and, more specifically, the Health Commissioner, Dr. Joseph Onojaeme.
Communities are beginning to demand answers, and many say it’s time for the commissioner to be called to order.
How did multimillion-naira projects become monuments of waste? Why are vital healthcare facilities allowed to degenerate into dens of insecurity? And who is responsible for this brazen betrayal of public trust?
As calls for a thorough audit and intervention grow louder, one thing remains clear: Delta State cannot afford to turn a blind eye any longer.
The people deserve better, and it is long overdue.
It would be recall that The Story had on Saturday April 5, 2025, reported that a once-promising legacy of healthcare advancement in Delta State is now a haunting symbol of government neglect.
The Comprehensive Primary Health Center located in Ejeme-Unor, Aniocha south local government area, Owa-Alidinma and Ndemili remains abandoned 24 years, despite urgent needs in the communities.
In Owa Alidinma, a local man (name withheld), captured the community’s frustration in a heartfelt interview. “It’s a shame to the government,” he said.
He recounted how the community once took initiative, community’s effort, by engaging a nurse on their own, hoping to bring the center to life. But within months, they could no longer sustain her services.
The building, though structurally sound and originally funded by a World Bank-assisted project during Governor Ibori’s administration, has never been put to use till date.
“People are dying on their way to Agbor,” he pleaded, referring to the nearest town with accessible medical care.
“The journey is costly, both in time and resources, a burden too heavy for many in these underserved areas.
“Please tell the government to come and equip this place. We are suffering,” he added.
Despite this suffering, the Delta State government continues to boast of its Health Insurance Scheme and its effort to upgrade 150 primary healthcare facilities. Yet glaring gaps remain.
The facilities in these rural communities, many within an hour’s drive from the state capital, have been completely overlooked.
The contradiction is both painful and absurd: while the government preaches reform, lives are being lost to bureaucratic inertia and political indifference.
These healthcare centers are not merely unfinished projects, they are promises broken. Community after community is watching their hopes for accessible medical care crumble in real time, even as officials tout progress in press releases and public appearances.
It is especially troubling given the political significance of the affected areas. Some of Delta’s most prominent leaders, past and present, hail from these very communities. Yet their people are still left to fend for themselves when illness strikes.
The time for excuses is long gone. If the government truly seeks to improve healthcare access and equity in Delta State, then it must start by listening to these communities, and acting.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Onojaeme, must include these abandoned facilities in the ongoing upgrade initiative and deploy trained personnel immediately.
Healthcare is not a political slogan. It is a right, and right now, rural Deltans are being denied it.
