Abia State Governor Alex Otti has unveiled the newly refurbished 80-bed general hospital in Mgboko, headquarters of Obingwa Local Government Area, and given it a new name honouring the late human rights campaigner Chima Ubani. The event took place on Tuesday, August 25, and stands as the latest in a string of health-sector investments under his watch.
Otti told the gathering that healthcare sits at the center of his government’s agenda, and that upgrades like this one are meant to win back public trust in state hospitals while making quality care easier to reach. He noted the facility will serve not just Obingwa but a wide catchment area stretching into Aba, Osisioma, and surrounding communities.
The governor took visible pride in what the hospital now offers — a healing garden, digitized recordkeeping, the ability to coordinate in real time with other facilities, tech-supported lab and imaging work, a fully kitted theatre, an eye-care unit, observation wards, and solar power backup to keep the lights on. He framed the project as proof that Abia’s health institutions are being brought up to modern standards, and promised the hospital would run 24/7, seven days a week, treating patients regardless of their financial standing.
On the choice to rename the hospital, Otti spoke of Chima Ubani as a fearless advocate who gave his life to the causes of justice and democracy — a former student union president at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, who later led the Civil Liberties Organisation. He called Ubani a guide for ordinary people, someone whose death came in service of the very principles he’d spent his life defending, and said the renaming was a way of keeping that legacy alive for younger Nigerians. He further pledged continued support for Ubani’s family and reiterated his government’s commitment to working alongside health professionals to raise the standard of care statewide, while urging local leaders to help guard the hospital against vandalism.
Several dignitaries lent their voices to the occasion, including Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, Labour Party’s state chairman Peter Azubuike, party candidates Okey Nwambu and Victoria Dibunma Onwubiko, Obingwa’s mayor Maxwell Nwadike, and traditional ruler Eze Nwabiaraije Eneogwe — all praising the governor’s development record in the area and voicing the community’s backing for him and his allies.
Health Commissioner Prof. Enoch Ogbonnaya Uche, in his welcome remarks, pointed to the hospital as one piece of a much larger push — 301 health infrastructure projects completed in three years, among them 277 primary healthcare centres built and equipped across the state. He explained that the Obingwa hospital was purpose-built as a digital facility, designed to link patients at smaller clinics directly with specialists here. Obingwa itself, he added, has gained 18 primary healthcare centres under the administration — 13 through Project Ekwueme and five through the Impact Project.
Dr. Odochi Azubuike, who heads the Abia State Hospitals Management Board, gave some history: the hospital was first built under the federal SURE-P programme and opened in 2015, but had fallen into disrepair — no admissions, no drugs, barely any working equipment — before the current administration stepped in. The renovation, she said, has turned it back into a facility that can genuinely serve patients. She thanked Otti for his attention to health workers’ welfare and asked residents to see the hospital as theirs to protect.
Dr. Richard Okoye of Save A Life Group also spoke, citing the governor’s forward-looking approach to health as the reason his organisation chose to partner with the state. Retired paediatrics professor Kanu Nkaginieme rounded out the remarks, commending the administration’s health investments and calling on communities across Abia to take ownership of safeguarding public projects.
