Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has commissioned a newly upgraded Neuropsychiatric Hospital alongside a new general hospital in Rumuigbo, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area — home turf of his predecessor, Nyesom Wike.
Speaking at the commissioning, Fubara said the projects were born out of an inspection visit to the old, ageing mental health facility, during which the Hospital Management Board flagged the limited funds available for its rehabilitation centre.
He recalled directing that the entire complex be rebuilt and modernised on the spot. “It was there and then that I said: Look, we have this very big compound, we need to rebuild, modernise and upgrade the standard of this Neuropsychiatric Hospital, and that day, we started this journey,” he said.
The governor gave a brief history of the hospital, noting it was conceived in 1970 and commissioned in 1977 with a 50-bed capacity. One of its earliest doctors, the late Martins Yellowe, went on to become a senator.
Fubara did not mince words about the facility’s decline before the renovation, describing it as a haven for drug trafficking. According to him, some visitors used the guise of playing football on the grounds to smuggle drugs to inmates. With the new perimeter fencing and controlled gate access now in place, he said the activity should drop significantly.
The remodelled hospital now boasts a 100-bed rehabilitation centre for patients battling mental health and substance abuse challenges. Fubara linked the rising cases to unemployment, depression, and other psychological pressures, noting that even developed nations rely on rehabilitation centres to help people return to normalcy.
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