Abia: How one woman ended Okuenyi mothers’ dangerous trek for childbirth

…Govt promises standard facility
By Steve Oko

UMUAHIA — For pregnant women in Okuenyi community, Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State, the journey to motherhood was often a painful test of endurance, one that began long before labour pains set in.

With no functional health facility to attend to them, expectant mothers had to trek approximately three miles to neighbouring communities in search of antenatal care and safe delivery. For some, the journey was a desperate race against time, with the lives of both mother and child hanging in the balance.

But one woman who grew up in the community could no longer bear the sight of her people enduring such hardship.
Moved by the plight of the women, Mrs Ebere Ulelu-Obiesie, an indigene of Okuenyi, stepped in to change the narrative, sponsoring the renovation and upgrading of the community’s dilapidated temporary health post and equipping it with essential medical facilities.

Her intervention, complemented by financial support from Rev. Friday Nnah, Proprietor of Abundant Living Christian School, Okuenyi, has brought renewed hope to a community whose women had for years faced the agonising prospect of travelling miles to access basic healthcare.

For the women of Okuenyi, the renovated facility which was inaugurated recently, represents much more than refurbished walls and newly acquired medical equipment. It offers the possibility of receiving medical attention closer to home and, perhaps, a safer journey into motherhood.

Painful reality that inspired intervention

Narrating the circumstances that prompted the intervention, Mrs. Ulelu-Obiesie told SEV that her attachment to Okuenyi, where she was born and raised before marriage, made it impossible for her to turn her back on the suffering of her people.
She disclosed that the decision to rehabilitate the health post was driven by her worry over the deplorable condition of the facility and the difficulties pregnant women in the area pass through to access healthcare.

According to her, a visit to the health post with her husband, Mr Ernest Obiesie, exposed the gravity of the situation and strengthened her resolve to intervene.

“I was born in Okuenyi before I got married. I could not stand by and watch my people continue to face these difficult challenges, especially in accessing healthcare services. Pregnant women, in particular, were exposed to enormous difficulties.

“After visiting the former health post in Okuenyi with my husband and seeing its deplorable condition, I resolved to liberate my people from these challenges by initiating the project through my husband, in collaboration with my co-sponsors,” she said.
Her husband, Ernest, revealed that he initially hesitated when she presented the proposal, citing financial constraints.

However, seeing the condition of the health post during a subsequent visit changed his perspective, as the couple resolved to respond to the community’s urgent healthcare needs.

Beneficiaries narrate ordeals

One of the beneficiaries of the medical outreach, Mrs Nwablessing Nwankudu, offered a poignant account of the ordeal residents had endured before the intervention.

She said pregnant women and other residents were often compelled to trek approximately three miles to neighbouring communities to access medical services, including antenatal care and delivery.

For expectant mothers, the distance was not merely an inconvenience. It was a potentially dangerous undertaking, particularly when labour commenced unexpectedly or complications arose.

Nwankudu expressed gratitude to the project sponsors, praying that God would continue to bless them for bringing relief to the community.

She, however, appealed to the Abia State Government to upgrade the facility into a standard health centre and rehabilitate the community’s access roads to make healthcare delivery more accessible.

Govt promises more intervention

Representing Governor Otti at the commissioning, Director, Office of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Hon. Ukaegbu Ndubuisi said the intervention had drawn the state government’s attention to the absence of a standard health centre in Okuenyi and the deplorable condition of roads linking the community.

He assured the residents that their concerns would be conveyed to the governor for necessary action.

“We assure the people of Okuenyi that this message will get to the Governor, and he will swing into action in the coming months to ensure that the upgraded temporary health post is transformed into a standard health centre, the inaccessible roads are graded, and the people of Okuenyi receive their democratic dividends,” he said.

The inauguration ceremony was accompanied by a free medical outreach led by Dr Obioma Nwaogwugwu, Supervisor for Health, Obingwa LGA, and other healthcare professionals.

The outreach provided residents with access to medical consultations and other healthcare services, further extending the benefits of the intervention beyond the rehabilitation of the facility.

In a related humanitarian gesture, Mrs Precious Nnah, wife of Rev. Friday Nnah, distributed food items to women who attended the medical outreach.

In his remark, the Labour Party flagbearer for Obingwa East State Constituency in the 2027 Abia State House of Assembly election, Seth Kelechi Ebere, commended the benefactors for their contributions to the project.

He described the intervention as an exemplary act of community development worthy of emulation by other prominent indigenes.
Meanwhile, Ebere pledged continued support towards transforming the facility into a standard health centre and urged residents to support the continuity of the Otti administration in the 2027 general elections.

The inauguration attracted government officials, political stakeholders, traditional rulers, community leaders, healthcare professionals and other dignitaries.

For Mrs Ulelu-Obiesie, the intervention is a personal response to a longstanding communal challenge. But for the women of Okuenyi, it is a potential turning point in their healthcare experience.

But for pregnant women who once had to trek miles in search of a place to deliver their babies, the renovated health post simply means that motherhood should no longer begin with a hazardous journey in search of medical care.

However, with the facility still awaiting transformation into a standard health centre and the community’s access roads remaining a challenge, residents hope the government’s pledge will translate into concrete action.

For now, one daughter’s compassion has brought healthcare closer to homes. The agrarian community awaits the next chapter. Even though some health care facilities in Abia have received a facelift, some are still yearning for intervention.

Checks by SEV revealed that Otti’s administration has recorded significant progress in the health sector, renovating over 200 primary healthcare centres, six general hospitals and three tertiary health institutions across Abia State. The governor has also promised to sustain his health care transformation, assuring that other PHCs in dilapidated condition will receive government attention.

However, communities yet to benefit from the interventions are eagerly awaiting their turn.