He warned that no nation can rise beyond the quality of its health and education systems.
….calls for urgent investment in health education
By Ife Osemedua
365Daily – Former Anambra State Governor and 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, has donated ₦15 million to the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu State, to support its re-accreditation efforts and improve its poor learning infrastructure.
Obi, who made an unannounced visit to the faculty on Friday, said his decision to come without prior notice was to avoid any disruption to the students’ academic activities. He explained that he was moved to visit after receiving a letter from one of the students detailing the dire state of the faculty.
“This is not the kind of environment we should subject our students to,” Obi said after inspecting the Phantom Head Lab, Prosthetic Lab, and Lecture Theatre—facilities he described as below standard, with the lecture hall roof leaking and critical training equipment in short supply.
He noted that health education must become a national priority, describing it as a foundational pillar for development. “We cannot continue like this. Things must change. Our children should not be subjected to these conditions,” he said.
The former governor told the students that Nigeria’s education sector once enjoyed serious attention from national leaders, citing a visit by former President Shehu Shagari to UNN during his student days—an example of the value once placed on learning.
Obi, who has built a reputation for quietly supporting educational institutions across the country, said the challenges in Nigeria’s healthcare and education sectors reflect a deeper failure of leadership. “One of your colleagues reached out to me about the challenges facing your faculty and appealed for support. I have come to commend your resilience in striving to succeed in a system that is not providing you with adequate facilities,” he told the students.
He also recalled building a teaching hospital in Awka within 18 months while he was governor and completing the Law Faculty of the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University in six months, stressing that where there is commitment, results can follow quickly.
Obi insisted that the federal and state governments must stop neglecting critical sectors, warning that no nation can rise beyond the quality of its health and education systems.
Chairman of the Fundraising Committee for the Faculty’s Re-accreditation, Mr. Boston Chukwuemeka, said the donation was timely. He disclosed that the faculty currently has only nine phantom heads and dental chairs but needs at least fifty to meet accreditation requirements. A total of ₦38 million, he said, is needed to fully upgrade the equipment and improve infrastructure.
Chukwuemeka also appealed to the relevant authorities to raise the faculty’s admission quota from fifteen to at least fifty, saying this could only happen if the learning facilities are scaled up.
President of the Dental Students Association, Mr. Daniel Ogba, thanked Obi for what he described as a life-changing intervention. “You’ve come to us not just as a political leader but as a father figure. This visit gives us hope,” he said.