RAYMOND OZOJI
Akwaeze community in Anaocha Local Government area of Anambra State has been in existence since Anambra was created many years ago but no son or daughter of the community has been appointed a Commissioner in the Government of Anambra State.
This lingered for many years until the Government of Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo appointed Dr. Ben Afam Obidike as the Commissioner for Health in Anambra State. The appointment therefore, made him the first Commissioner to come from Akwaeze community.
Dr. Ben Afam Obidike, who was born in the 80s, is a native of Uruolu village in Akwaeze. With barely few months in office as the Commissioner for Health, Obidike has caused a radical cum disruptive change in the healthcare system of Anambra State. Prior to his emergence as the Commissioner for Health, public health facilities had no doctors, nurses and other medical personnel for many years.
It was the advent of Dr. Ben Afam Obidike that addressed critical issues in the health sector especially the issue of human resource for health upon which Governor Soludo employed over 300 health workers to end the era of Anambra hospitals operating without doctors and nurses. He has equally beamed his searchlight on the primary healthcare system with a view to addressing inherent anomalies there in.
It is as a result of the foregoing and some other monumental strides in the health sector since his inception that the elders and traditional institution in Akwaeze found him worthy of a meritorious award which was bestowed on him on 31th December, 2022 at the civic centre during the annual Akwaeze Day Celebration.
To Be Continued …