Enugu govt to construct “Efi Igbo” Cattle Ranch

*Awards multiple contracts for upgrade of health facilities

By Ralph Christopher

The Enugu State Executive Council (EXCO) rising from its meeting announced approval for the construction of “Efi Igbo” Cattle Ranch in Udenu Local Government Area.

This was as it also awarded contract for the immediate construction of seven units of Type-3 Primary Health Care Centre in Ezeagu, Nkanu East, Igbo-Etiti, Igbo-Eze South, Isi-Uzo, Udenu and Uzo-Uwani Local Government Areas.

The health centres, according to the Commissioner for Information, Nnanyelugo Chidi Aroh, will be “fully equipped and with water borehole and standby generator in each of the health facilities”.

Aroh said the decision was in line with Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s vision and the determination of the EXCO “to continually increase the state government’s capacity to provide quality and accessible health care”.

He disclosed that the council “directed the contractors handling these projects to ensure they are completed in 90 days as stipulated in the terms of contract”.

The Commissioner further disclosed that the state government approved “renovation works, improvement of facilities and provision of essential supplies in 34 health facilities, across the 17 Local Government Areas, to scale up delivery of linked services and preparedness against community spread of COVID-19 pandemic by the Enugu State Save One Million Lives (SOML) Project”.

Also approved, according to Aroh, was the upgrade of infrastructure and rehabilitation of the General Hospital Ogrute, Enugu-Ezike in Igbo-Eze North LGA (phase one).

It would be recalled that Gov. Ugwuanyi paid an unscheduled visit to the hospital last week and directed the State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure to immediately evaluate the health facility with a view to rehabilitating it to serve the public better.

The commissioner added that the upgrade and rehabilitation of the hospital will include construction of a borehole with a 10,000-liter capacity overhead tank; perimeter fencing of the entire land area, and reconstruction and asphalting of the access road.

He stated that the council equally approved the upgrade of infrastructure and renovation works at Nsukka District Hospital to include construction of borehole with a 10,000-litre capacity overhead tank and rehabilitation of an existing 10,000-liter capacity overhead tank, reticulation of water to all existing structures and correction works, external works/landscaping of new hospital building.

The council went further to approve the construction of additional Doctors Residential Quarters at the Nsukka Isolation and Treatment Centre and the purchase of 200 units of ultra-modern automated hand washing machine and hand sanitizer from the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) Enugu “for immediate distribution to the 17 LGAs, major markets, schools and designated public places to encourage proper hand hygiene in line with the health protocol of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC)”.

He explained that memo from the State Ministry of Agriculture for the construction and development of ultra-modern EFI IGBO CATTLE RANCH at Udenu LGA, was to encourage the mass production and ranching of Igbo indigenous breed of cattle to meet the ever increasing demand for beef and allied products in the state.

Already, some private investors have indicated interest in the area, but are expressing reservations on the level of insecurity primarily being brought in by Fulani herdsmen and their accompanying militiamen.

Consequently, the Commissioner expressed Council’s gratitude to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar Adamu, for locating the newly-created Force CID Annex in Enugu, to cover the South-East and South- South geopolitical zones, which is to be headed by an Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), “and assures the IGP of the maximum cooperation of the Enugu State Government.