Over time, an Ohafia born social commentator, writing with the pen name – ‘People of Abia’ has become notorious for almost always hiding under the guise of social commentary to blackmail unsuspecting Abians and Nigerians for reasons which may not be far from pecuniary.
Most recently, the blackmailer took to his Instagram account to churn out half baked lies, unfounded information and distorted facts about the Federal Medical Center Umuahia.
Ordinarily such baseless articles laced with overt misinformation could have been ignored which I am sure that is what the management of FMC Umuahia has already done, but as an Abian who lives in Umuahia and who constantly uses FMC Umuahia, I cannot watch and do nothing while these bare faced lies continue to be read by Nigerians and the rest of the world. The most excruciating part of the whole thing is that the said personality, currently de-marketing FMC Umuahia and discouraging people from accessing the near first class services in the facility, is an Abian. What a shame!
One would have expected an Abian to celebrate the series of successful kidney transplant going on in FMC Umuahia, which has led to the idea of establishing a permanent Renal Complex within the hospital, among other major medical feats achieved in the center.
Any honest person living in Abia, especially Umuahia and it’s environs can attest to the fact that the administration of Prof Azubuike Onyebuchi is the most glorious years of FMC Umuahia. From the infrastructural upgrade of the entire facility, to an an improved care level, coupled with an excellent administrative process, free from previous unnecessary bottlenecks.
Before now, the Accident and emergency department of FMC was nothing to write home about, the Department continued to battle with space to contain the unending influx of patience from all over the state and beyond, being the hospital capable of handling most emergency cases. But today, the story is different. Apart from having a brand new ultra modern Accident and Emergency Department, well equipped to manage even the most extreme emergency cases, the department has more space to accommodate patients, which was hitherto the major constraint facing the hospital.
If we must tell ourselves the truth, the Federal Medical Center Umuahia is often overburdened beyond it’s capacity, the doctors and nurses are overstretched because it is the singular public hospital within and around the state with the capacity to take it extreme medical cases. Tell me that public hospital in Abia state, one can rush to for urgent medical attention that is close to the capacity of FMC Umuahia. Again, we must also tell ourselves the bitter truth that the A& E department is not wired to raise the dead, this is because some patients who are brought in, either come in on an extremely critical condition or already dead and loved ones find it difficult to accept.
Let us even look at the facts raised by People of Abia.
First, if the motive of this article is not a smear campaign, why will non chalance and negligence on the part of some Nurses and Doctors, be narrowed down to FMC Umuahia.
This is a known global issue, that is not peculiar to FMC Umuahia, rather an unfortunate personal trait that should not be generalized, except we want to demoralize the hardworking, selfless and passionate Doctors and Nurses working round the clock to assist in the healing process of our sick relatives!
The phantom surveys quoted by the so called People of Abia are either non existent, fabricated, or a case where national surveys are narrowed down to mean FMC Umuahia, all in a bid to get attention and perhaps get “settled”.
Nobody is going to grease the palms of any serial blackmailer!
If the intentions is not to blackmail the leadership of FMC Umuahia, while will a 2025 analysis of mortality patterns across tertiary NIGERIAN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS which recorded 12% mortality be narrowed down to FMC Umuahia?
If the purpose of this hate induced article is not to whittle down the monumental and visible achievements of Prof Azubuike Onyebuchi, why single out FMC Umuahia in a case of a NATIONAL STRIKE action involving all medical personnel across the country? It is on record that Prof Onyebuchi hired ad-hoc staff and even tipped some staff of FMC Umuahia to ensure people in dire need of medical assistance were attended to.
The general should avoid this so called ‘People of Abia’ because he represents nothing but his stomach. Churning out damaging articles daily to seek attention of public office holders and be accommodated in their payrolls. This particular post about FMC Umuahia is another ploy to get the attention of the current administration at FMC Umuahia.
Everyone living within Abia can attest to the improved services at the Federal Medical Center Umuahia since Prof Azubuike Onyebuchi assumed office and no attempt by desperate office seekers to whittle down on these achievements will be allowed to stand.
Finally while I endorse the introduction of modern monitoring devices for medical personnel, like body cams, I would even highly recommend that our people embrace health insurance schemes available around and urge government to simplify and subsidize health insurance schemes to make is more accessible and affordable to every citizen. That way, most administrative bottlenecks associated with treatment at Accident and Emergency Departments of most tertiary hospitals will have been removed!
I will end by advising our brother hiding behind People of Abia to get another trade apart from blackmail, so that he doesn’t run the risk of running himself out of the media space for always constantly being on the negative side of everything!
Ugochukwu Nwankwo anipr
Umuahia
19 – 03 – 2026
