Governor Abiola Ajimobi has revealed that the ongoing Jericho Pediatric and Maternity centre, a World Bank-assisted, would rival the popular University College Hospital, UCH, Ibadan, in service when completed.
Ajimobi, who described the project as an integrated health delivery center, assured the people of the state that his administration will continue to embark on life-changing legacy projects and programmes till May, next year when his tenure will end.
He said this during the inspection of the state-of-the-art project of the state government under construction, in Ibadan, on Thursday.
Judging by the pace of work at the centre, the governor said he was optimistic that it would be inaugurated latest by the end of the year to institute integrated and modernized health delivery services in the state.
Ajimobi said that he was unlike some governors who would stop engaging in developmental projects when it is a year or less to the end of their tenure, a practice he said was against the promises made to the electorate while campaigning for election.
He said “This center is another testimony to the fact that ours is an administration noted for projects. We are not like some lazy governors that would have stopped embarking on projects a year before the end of their tenure and will instead be frolicking around.
“We will work till the last day in office because that is why we were elected. I was not elected for seven years but eight years and it will be completed in May next year by the grace of God.
“Our government is striving to bring a good standard of living to the people and this is not possible without good health delivery. That is why I am here. We must complete these projects in the next three to six months at the most and it will be opened to the general public.”
Ajimobi said that the place would be a referral centre for health issues like tuberculosis, maternal health and child-related diseases.
Ajimobi added, “We are known for modernizing Oyo State. We are not only modernizing the state through the education sector, we are also modernizing the physical environment and more importantly, we are modernizing the health sector.
“We believe that we should have here an integrated health service delivery center, where we can have a maternal and paediatric center, where we will have tuberculosis center and all centers related to health service delivery.
“We want to make this another UCH, so to speak, where virtually everything will be integrated, where any service you want will be on the ground when it comes to health.”
