Ibadan indigenes urges Tinubu and Pate to save UCH from total collapse due to Power Outage
Indigenes of Ibadan under the platform of Ibadan Mega Voice (IMV) have appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Ali Pate, and other stakeholders to save University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan from total collapse.
IMV, a group of Ibadan indigenes in the media industry, made this declaration via a statement signed by its president, Kola Olomide, and made available to Newsmen on Thursday.
The Newsmen gathered that the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) disconnected UCH from the national grid on October 26 this year.
Our correspondent learned that this is the second time the electricity distribution company has cut off power supply to the hospital due to accumulated debt.
Olomide, in a statement made available to Newsmen on Thursday, described the development as embarrassing and discouraging.
He used the opportunity to call on Tinubu, Pate, and other stakeholders to intervene and rescue the hospital from total collapse.
Olomide advised the UCH management to think outside the box by embracing other sources of power.
“It is embarrassing to hear that IBEDC has cut off power supply to UCH for the second time this year due to accumulated debt. This is discouraging and pitiable.
“UCH is making money from the services they are providing. It is worthy of note to say that the money UCH is generating should be enough to pay its debt.
“The UCH management should embrace alternative sources of energy if they cannot afford to pay the monthly electricity bill from IBEDC. They should consider using alternative sources, such as solar, to power the machines and equipment used for critical operations.”
“The CMD and the management team should know that people are watching. UCH is the biggest hospital in Ibadan and Oyo State, the last place for critical medical attention in the state.
“We are appealing to Tinubu, the state governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde and other stakeholders to come to the rescue of UCH and solve this problem once and for all.
“UCH is too big and critical to Ibadan and Oyo State in general. We cannot allow it to collapse.
“We are also calling on all indigenes of Ibadan and Oyo State to rise up and save the situation. The management of UCH should be invited to explain why they are in this situation.”
