The Governor of Ebonyi State, Rt. Hon. Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, has poured glowing encomiums on the outgoing Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the David Umahi Federal University Teaching Hospital (DUFUTH), Uburu, Prof. Uzoma MaryRose Agwu, praising her transformative leadership in turning the institution from an ambitious architectural blueprint into a premier pan-African center of medical excellence.
Governor Nwifuru made the remarks in Abakaliki during the dual celebration marking the 4th Anniversary of DUFUTH and the official opening ceremony of the 114th Regular Meeting of the Committee of Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of Federal Tertiary Hospitals in Nigeria.
The State Governor, represented by the Deputy Governor, Princess Patricia Onyemaechi Obila, GCEHF, expressed profound appreciation to the Committee of CMDs and MDs for selecting Ebonyi State as the host for this landmark national discourse. He charged the nation’s apex medical administrators to look beyond routine deliberations and use the 114th assembly to engineer viable, systemic solutions to the pressing challenges confronting the national health sector, most notably, the persistent migration of healthcare professionals.
“Your institutions represent the final line of defense in our healthcare architecture. You must deploy your collective expertise to create frameworks that retain our finest brains, optimize medical resources, and elevate clinical outcomes across the country.”
Governor Francis Nwifuru re-emphasized that under his administration’s governance blueprint, the People’s Charter of Needs, healthcare is classified as a non-negotiable priority and highlighted the state’s aggressive interventions to eliminate manpower deficits, including the mass recruitment and mobilization of Medical Doctors, Nurses, and Medical Laboratory Scientists across state-owned facilities, backed by highly competitive incentives.
He further urged the leadership of federal tertiary hospitals to forge strategic, cross-institutional collaborations with state-owned general hospitals and primary healthcare facilities to systematically strengthen healthcare delivery at the grassroots level.
The event drew federal and state government functionaries, including, Daju Kachollom, mni, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Moses Ekuma, Ebonyi State Commissioner for Health, Engr. Donatus Uche-Olua, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor, Prof. Nwogo Obasi, Commissioner for Market Development and Parks, Princess Nkechinyere Iyioku, Princess Iyioku Ezeani, Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Hon. Francis Ori, Commissioner for Housing, Chief Okorie Philip Ogbonnaya, Commissioner for Inter-Party Affairs, Hon. Mrs. Chinwe Lilian Nwachukwu, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Education, Hon. Mrs. Kelechi Aja-ani, Special Assistant (SA) on the Deputy Governor’s Office and Hon Godwin Chuku, Special Assistant on Internal Security, Ohaozara LGA.
The celebration featured several points, including the official commissioning of newly constructed edifices within the hospital, the ceremonial cutting of the DUFUTH 4th Anniversary cake, and the grand unveiling of books written in honour of the stewardship of the outgoing CMD, Prof. Uzoma MaryRose Agwu.
