It is with a heavy heart that we intend to draw the attention of the world to the massive infrastructural decay in the once highly esteemed University of Benin Teaching Hospital Benin city Edo state. The citadel of health care, training and research is now a shadow of itself.


It is of grave concern that in our country Nigeria we allow poor management bring the labours of our heroes past to waste, this is the case of the Stem cell transplant centre in the University of Benin Teaching Hospital. The intention of this facility was to bring smiles to the families with sickle cell patients as patients with sickle cell can come here and have their stem cells replaced in clearer terms after some treatment here they are no longer sicklers.

University of Benin Teaching Hospital stem cell centre was the place where this could be done in West Africa but the story is different today as the hospital management have allowed this facility to rust and waste. Our people are once again globetrotting for care for their loved ones with sickle cell, also specialist man power that was trained in this field with tax payers money are left to do very basic things as their specialist skill is not been tapped.

The situation is about same in the department of Radiotherapy as the radiotherapy machine which the government of Nigeria spent fortune on take of Nigerians from several states no longer functions, our people have to be referred far and wide for such care.

The Accident and Emergency department of the hospital which was initially world class to carter for Nigerians especially travelling ones Benin where it is located been a transit town is currently operating below a standard primary health care centre. For specialists in emergency care they are available in the A and E though poorly catered for by the hospital management but they hardly have what to work with, glucometers are not present to check sugar level, instruments to measure blood pressure are faulty and the pharmacy lacks drugs and intravenous fluids. Patients and their relatives have to cross the road to get drugs and hospital consumables. Materials for advanced care is a no go area. Several lives which could have been saved in the University of Benin Teaching Hospital Accident and Emergency are lost daily.

Nurses, pharmacists, doctors and other health care workers in UBTH are leaving the hospital monthly, for several reasons which include,

1, Job satisfaction - some health professionals are not able to stand the decay going on in the hospital, a situation where a life that could have been saved is lost.

2 , poor welfare and remuneration - UBTH staff are always been owed salaries, this is saddening as federal government provides these monies.

It is a high time the general public and we'll meaning Nigerians stop the rot and decay in UBTH, the management should be called to order so the families with sicklers can smile, so the cancer patient does not die, so the accident victim will survive and Nigeria reduces the cost it spends on medical tourism.

The pictures I will post along this article will show you the food that UBTH management serves their doctors who are on call. Look at the conditions of our call rooms and understand why we are on strike. The Chief Medical Director, Prof. Micheal Ibadin is bent on killing the UBTH and we will not allow it.