Greater than a yr after Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo pledged ₦2.5 billion to the College of Benin Educating Sanatorium, UBTH, for the development of a paediatric advanced, a involved citizen has steered him to fulfil the promise.
DAILY POST remembers that Okpebholo made the pledge on August 26, 2025, following an attraction through the health center’s Leader Scientific Director, Professor Idia Ize-Iyamu, for the development of a contemporary paediatric centre.
Whilst approving the grant, the governor vowed that his management would no longer play politics with the well being of youngsters, describing the proposed centre as a legacy undertaking for Edo State and Nigeria.
Fearful through the lengthen and closing Thursday’s petroleum tanker explosion at Oluku Marketplace alongside the Benin-Lagos Limited-access highway, an Edo State resident, Mrs Grace Amayo, has steered the governor to fulfil his promise through starting off development of the centre.
Amayo, who spoke to newshounds in Benin Town on the weekend, stated the incident had underscored the will for stepped forward clinical infrastructure.
She steered Okpebholo to redeem his pledge, noting that the undertaking was once important to the way forward for healthcare within the area.
In line with her, the specialized facility would considerably enhance paediatric care and supply an acceptable therapeutic setting for prone kids.
“I wish to attraction to the governor to peer the undertaking thru to of entirety. The pledge will have to no longer stay an insignificant remark; it will have to transform a finished legacy undertaking that may serve generations of youngsters.
“Youngsters deserve greater than guarantees, and UBTH merits the infrastructure required to serve them successfully. Prof. Ize-Iyamu has proven that she is able to paintings for the folk. Her resourcefulness and dedication will have to be supported through sustained govt funding.
“The restored Burns and Plastic Surgical procedure Ward demonstrates what useful management can succeed in, whilst the proposed Paediatric Complicated provides a possibility to construct one thing much more enduring.
“For years, the burns ward, firstly constructed through the Nigerian Nationwide Petroleum Corporate (NNPC), had languished in overlook. A facility supposed to regard burn sufferers had itself transform a logo of abandonment.
“With out looking forward to some other committee or attraction, Prof. Ize-Iyamu directed that the ward be remodelled and restored to a normal befitting a contemporary Burns and Plastic Surgical procedure Unit. The CMD’s imaginative and prescient for the power was once straight away was fact.
“Then got here the Oluku gas tanker tragedy on Thursday. The tanker explosion alongside the Benin-Lagos Freeway introduced the truth of mass casualties and serious burns into sharp focal point. As sufferers have been evacuated to UBTH, the restored ward become greater than a renovated facility; it become a lifeline,” she stated.
Amayo maintained that making an investment in powerful clinical infrastructure was once crucial to sustainable construction and protective the well-being of citizens throughout Edo State.
DAILY POST reviews that Okpebholo, accompanied through Senator Adams Oshiomhole and different govt officers, visited UBTH on Friday, October 16, 2026, to peer survivors of the tanker explosion receiving remedy.
Throughout the seek advice from, the Leader Scientific Director briefed the delegation at the sufferers’ stipulations and restoration, together with the ones some of the first 11 sufferers admitted after the incident.