Cross River Health Sector: Setting the Records Straight on PDP’s False Narratives
The recent outburst by a factional Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Cross River State, Barr. Venatius Ikem, against the health sector under Governor Bassey Otu is not only misleading but also a desperate attempt by a failed opposition to distort facts and divert attention from the monumental decay their party inflicted on the state for over two decades.
It is both ironic and laughable that the same PDP which presided over the systematic collapse of Cross River’s healthcare system now pretends to care about the welfare of the people. Cross Riverians have not forgotten that before Governor Bassey Otu assumed office in 2023, the state operated under an employment embargo that lasted nearly 13 years under successive PDP administrations. The result was a depleted and aging workforce across virtually all sectors, especially health.
Governor Otu met a health sector gasping for survival, neglected by the very people who now seek to lecture the public on healthcare delivery. Rather than engage in blame games, the present administration immediately commenced the difficult task of rebuilding the system from the ruins PDP left behind.
Contrary to the falsehood peddled by Barr. Ikem that the state has only “99 nurses and fewer than 20 doctors,” the facts are clear and verifiable. Ironically, the figure he quoted only reflects staffing data from General Hospital Calabar alone. The truth is that Cross River State currently has 542 nurses in public hospitals and 97 nurses in primary healthcare facilities across the state.
In the secondary healthcare system alone, over 230 new health professionals, including doctors, pharmacists, nurses, laboratory scientists and technicians, have already been recruited by this administration, with recruitment for more doctors still ongoing. In the primary healthcare system, more than 500 health workers comprising nurses, midwives, community health extension workers, data managers, pharmacy technicians and laboratory technicians have equally been employed and deployed across the state.
Today, each of the 196 Primary Healthcare Centres across the 196 political wards in Cross River State has a trained midwife or skilled birth attendant, a feat never achieved during the PDP’s 24 years in power. This alone exposes the ignorance and inaccuracy of Barr. Ikem’s claims regarding shortages of health personnel, particularly midwives.
It is equally dishonest for the PDP chairman to suggest that health workers are leaving the state because of poor welfare. Under Governor Otu, doctors in Cross River State currently enjoy full implementation of 100 percent Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) and earn salaries that compare favourably, and in many cases exceed, what their counterparts receive at the federal and tertiary healthcare levels. Other categories of health workers, including nurses, have also benefited from a 15 percent salary increase which has been consistently implemented by Governor Otu for over a year.
It is important to note that this 15 percent salary adjustment was a long-standing demand of health workers throughout the PDP years but was never implemented until the assumption of office by Governor Otu.
The migration of healthcare workers abroad is a global challenge affecting both developed and developing nations. Attempting to weaponise this global trend against Cross River State is intellectually dishonest, politically mischievous and outright naive.
More disturbing, however, is the fabricated tale that surgeries are performed with phone torchlights in General Hospitals. Such scenarios were more reflective of the PDP era when public healthcare facilities deteriorated to mere immunisation centres while residents increasingly depended on private hospitals for survival, including in communities such as Obudu, where Barr. Ikem hails from.
His recent claims exist only in the imagination of desperate opposition propagandists. Most state-owned hospitals today operate with alternative power solutions, including solar-powered systems installed in critical units such as theatres and laboratories. The claim that patients’ relatives provide petrol before treatment can commence is false, reckless and clearly intended to incite panic and discredit ongoing reforms.
Barr. Ikem further betrayed his ignorance of realities on ground when he described only the General Hospitals in Calabar and Akamkpa as functional. Anyone familiar with Cross River’s health system knows that the General Hospitals in Ugep and Ogoja rank among the busiest and most patronised facilities in the state, both in terms of service delivery and internally generated revenue.
A number of General Hospitals in the state have witnessed remarkable improvements under the current administration, including the introduction of fistula management services, oxygen plants and ultrasound services. Healthcare delivery is also becoming increasingly automated through the digitalisation of health services, achievements that were completely absent during the PDP years.
For the avoidance of doubt, the current administration is deliberately revitalising healthcare infrastructure across the state. In the last two years alone, over 100 Primary Healthcare Centres have been revitalised, including the construction of staff quarters to support 24-hour service delivery.
In continuation of this effort, government is also prioritising the revitalisation of hospitals across the state. The Cottage Hospitals in Ukem and Oban, which the opposition has attempted to portray as abandoned, are already scheduled for renovation and upgrading after decades of neglect under PDP administrations. The limited personnel currently at those facilities are there mainly for supervision, monitoring and security pending the completion of rehabilitation works.
It is therefore misleading and mischievous for anyone to deliberately ignore ongoing government interventions simply to score cheap political points.
It is also unfortunate that Barr. Ikem chose to politicise issues concerning maternal healthcare and Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs). The present administration has continued to strengthen primary healthcare delivery through improved manpower, immunisation campaigns, maternal health programmes and strategic partnerships aimed at reducing maternal and child mortality.
Cross River State today ranks among the leading states in routine immunisation performance nationwide, a testament to effective coordination, proactive leadership and deliberate investment in healthcare delivery.
The allegations against the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Ayuk, further expose the opposition’s shallow understanding of healthcare administration. Governance is not about media theatrics and empty press statements. Healthcare infrastructure includes sanitation systems, waste management, water supply, infection prevention, environmental hygiene and facility rehabilitation, all critical components of functional healthcare delivery.
Attempting to mock the inspection of sanitation facilities only reveals how disconnected the PDP leadership remains from basic public health realities.
Equally false is the claim that government has abandoned investment in healthcare while depending solely on donor agencies. One wonders whether Barr. Ikem listens to himself before making such claims. The General Hospital along Ogoja Road in Obudu, built by the Cross River State Government for the benefit of the people, was privatised and handed over to private interests during the PDP era for nearly two decades.
It took the humane and people-oriented leadership of Governor Bassey Otu to initiate the recovery of that facility for public use and the benefit of the people of Obudu, Barr. Ikem’s own community.
The Otu administration has continued to commit substantial resources toward strengthening healthcare infrastructure, personnel recruitment, epidemic preparedness and quality service delivery. Donor partnerships merely complement government efforts; they do not replace them. Every responsible government across the world leverages partnerships to improve healthcare outcomes.
Governor Bassey Otu has strategically rebuilt confidence among development partners, restored counterpart funding obligations and strengthened collaborations that have significantly improved performance in the critical sectors of health, education and public infrastructure. By the time this administration came on board in 2023, many development partners had either withdrawn or drastically reduced their engagement with the state due to the poor governance culture entrenched during the PDP years.
Cross Riverians are not deceived by these politically motivated attacks. They vividly remember the years of PDP maladministration that reduced public hospitals to glorified consulting clinics, abandoned projects across the state and left workers demoralised and unpaid.
It is therefore hypocritical for the architects of that collapse to suddenly pose as defenders of public healthcare.
Governor Bassey Otu inherited enormous liabilities from years of PDP misrule, but within less than three years, his administration has steadily restored confidence in the health sector through strategic recruitment, improved welfare packages, infrastructure upgrades, stronger epidemic response systems and the revitalisation of primary healthcare delivery across the state.
Barr. Venatius Ikem and his PDP should focus more on rebuilding their fractured political relevance rather than manufacturing falsehoods against a government that is clearly rebuilding Cross River State from the ruins they created.
Signed:
Kingsley Agim, anipr
Information Officer
Cross River Ministry of Health
