The Etayip community in Ikom LGA has ceded a cemetery as well as adjoining lands to the state government to refurbish and upgrade the primary health centre in Ikom LGA to a full-fledged general hospital.
The traditional ruler of Etayip community, His Highness, Ntufam Lawrence Okim Agbor, said that in a matter of days, the Ikom traditional council would make available a formal document ceding the aforementioned lands to government.
He spoke today at the groundbreaking ceremony by Governor Bassey Otu, who was represented by the Commissioner for Health, Dr Henry Ayuk.
He conveyed the appreciation of the people to the governor while reiterating the community’s stand on ceding the cemetery and the land before the high court to government for the upgrade of the health facility.
Ayuk said the approval of the State Executive Council for the construction of an ultramodern general hospital in Ikom was a response to the passionate plea of the Ikom people.
The project is to be completed before Otu’s first anniversary on May 29.
Otu noted that the hospital, when completed, would solve the perennial dearth of a competent facility that would cater to the health needs of the old Ikom people (of Boki, Etung and Ikom).
“What makes this government stand out is its focus on ‘People First,’ equity and love. Ikom, Boki and Etung local governments are three crucial areas that constitute over 25 per cent of the state’s population. They need a public hospital. That is the fundamental reason why the Otu-led administration insisted on a project like this in Ikom,” he averred.