A once-promising legacy of healthcare advancement in Delta State is now a haunting symbol of government neglect, as the Comprehensive Primary Health Center located in Ejeme-Unor, Aniocha south local government area, remains abandoned 24 years, despite urgent needs in the community.
Built during the tenure of former Governor Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa as Commissioner for Health under the Chief James Onanefe Ibori administration, the facility, among others, was designed to serve as a beacon of accessible healthcare.
Equipped with doctors’ and nurses’ quarters, the center was poised to deliver primary health services to the surrounding rural population. Today, it stands in silent decay, unused, unstaffed, and forgotten.
What’s even more troubling is that the responsibility of maintaining the grounds has fallen not on the government, but on the traditional ruler of the community, His Royal Majesty (HRM) Obi Godwin Nzemeke, Obi of Ejeme-Unor, who personally ensures the environment is cleared regularly to prevent it from becoming a security and health hazard.
“This is a fully built health center, complete with quarters for medical personnel, left to rot while the people it was meant to serve travel miles to access basic healthcare,” a concerned resident said.
“It’s not just a waste of infrastructure; it’s a failure of priorities.”
Despite repeated appeals from community leaders, the facility remains uncommissioned, with no sign of integration into the state’s functional healthcare system.
Local sources report that the center has never operated at capacity, or at all, since its completion, highlighting a broader issue of abandoned public infrastructure across the state.
The Ejeme-Unor health center is one among many dormant projects that point to a disturbing trend: the underutilization of critical public health assets in rural areas, even as state health indicators continue to demand urgent attention.
Health advocates are now calling on the Delta State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joseph Onojaeme, to immediately revisit and reactivate the center, describing its abandonment as “both a governance oversight and a public disservice.”
“Delta State cannot afford to build monuments to neglect,” said a public policy analyst in Asaba.
“This health center was built with taxpayer money. Leaving it idle while people lack access to primary healthcare is unacceptable”, another source said.
Several communities across Delta State are home to health centers constructed during the tenure of Dr. Okowa as Commissioner for Health, yet these facilities remain non-operational to this day.
Notable among them are:
Ndemili Health Center in Ndokwa West
Owa-Alidinma Health Center in Ika North East
Ejeme-Unor Health Center in Aniocha South
Despite being fully constructed, these centers have yet to be activated for public use, representing wasted infrastructure and a critical gap in grassroots healthcare delivery.
It is deeply disheartening to see that fully constructed health facilities, into which billions of naira were invested, have now been reduced to rodent-infested shelters.
Once envisioned as lifelines for rural healthcare, these centers have become ghost structures—abandoned and neglected.
While former Governor Okowa, during his time as Commissioner for Health, made a commendable effort to bring healthcare closer to village communities, the absence of follow-up by successive administrations—first under Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, and later under Okowa himself as Governor, has rendered those efforts fruitless.
“I personally visited these facilities just yesterday and witnessed the decay firsthand.
“Each of them includes well-built doctors’ and nurses’ quarters, now overtaken by rodents instead of serving the people they were meant to help.
“It’s a painful sight and a tragic reminder of how lack of continuity in governance can squander even the most well-intentioned legacies.
“The health center in Utagba Uno, my hometown, is a glaring example of neglect.
“Currently, the facility is staffed by only one auxiliary nurse, a woman who struggles even with basic literacy, and she is expected to serve as the “health madam” of the center.
“There is no doctor or any qualified nurse available to provide proper medical care to the people.
“This is particularly concerning considering Utagba Uno is the hometown of several prominent political figures in Delta State, including the State PDP Secretary Engr. Dan Ossai, Ndokwa West Council Chairman Chief Dr. Obi Nzete, DESOPADEC Managing Director Chief Festus Ochonogor, and ICE Board Chairman Chief Omoni Johnson, among others.
“These individuals hold positions of influence, yet their representation has failed to translate into tangible improvements for the healthcare system in their own community.
“It’s clear that they are serving their own interests, not those of the people they claim to represent”, an impeccable source who do not want the name in print for fear of victimization, disclosed.
As the state government rolls out fresh initiatives in the health sector, residents of Ejeme-Unor hope the spotlight will finally turn toward this forgotten facility.
For a community eager for development and dignified healthcare, reactivating the center is not just an option, it is a long overdue obligation.
Repeated attempts to contact the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joseph Onojaeme, for a comment were unsuccessful, as he neither answered calls nor responded to text messages sent to his cellphone.
