By Gbenga Akingbule
The North East Development Commission (NEDC) on Thursday donated 500KVA Generator to the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Maiduguri, as part of its intervention in the region.
Gatekeepers News reports that Maiduguri, the Borno State capital and its environs was thrown into darkness following attacks on its Power facilities by suspected Boko Haram terrorists in January 2021.
Since then, the Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital has been on one generating – set to provide power to its facilities and operations.
At a brief ceremony in Maiduguri to hand over the power generator to the hospital, the Managing Director of NEDC, Alhaji Mohammed Alkali represented by the General Manager Operations, Haruna Waziri said the donation is in line with the implementation of its mandate.
According to him, the implementation of the Mandate of the NEDC is driven by demands from beneficiary entities within the North East Region.
“The Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital came to us some time ago and place in front of our management series of requests; one of which was the power generator,” Waziri said.
The NEDC representative revealed that the commission had made other donations to the hospital in the past added that its ready to establish 40- Bed Rehabilitation Centres in all the states of the North East.
“Here in Maiduguri, the Commission will establish the same 40- bed centre as in the other states, instead of just a Ward in the Specialist Hospital, as you had earlier requested,” Waziri said.
The CMD of the Hospital, Prof. Ibrahim Wakawa had expressed concern over the increasing cases of consumption of narcotic drugs and other substances, which he said is prevalent among young people in the state.
“The Donation of this generator will assist the hospital greatly. It will enhance the optimal working environment for the recovery of people with mental health issues that are here.
“The National grid connecting the Metropolis has been vandalised by the insurgents, and we have been relying on diesel-generated power for the past one year and we only a functional generator and if it breaks down, there will be total disruption of services. ” Prof Wakawa said.
