Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulum has delivered a new 400-bed teaching hospital in Maiduguri as part of efforts to expand access to specialist healthcare, improve medical training and reduce medical tourism.
Vice-President Kashim Shettima commissioned the Kashim Ibrahim University Teaching Hospital on Friday, alongside other major projects executed by the Zulum administration.
The newly delivered facility comprises 13 specialist departments, including diagnostic services, surgery, emergency care, paediatrics, internal medicine and physiotherapy, among others.
It also features a medical college complex, students’ hostel, a 200-unit staff estate and an oxygen plant complex.
The hospital is equipped with advanced diagnostic technology, including a 1.5-tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, a 160-slice computed tomography (CT) scanner, three conventional and two mobile X-ray machines, three 4D ultrasound machines, a fluoroscopy system and a digital mammography machine.
The investment is expected to bring advanced diagnostic services and specialist treatment closer to residents of Borno and neighbouring communities, including populations across the Lake Chad region.
Beyond healthcare delivery, the new institution is expected to strengthen medical education and help address shortages of healthcare personnel by training doctors, nurses and allied health professionals for Borno State and the wider North-East region.
In addition to the teaching hospital, Shettima commissioned Yerwa Practice Mega Primary School, constructed by the Zulum administration, and another mega primary school delivered under the Kashim Shettima Free Education Programme, which provides free education to orphans and vulnerable children.
The vice-president commended Zulum, describing the projects as investments capable of standing the test of time.
“We shall be judged by what survives our time in office. The offices we held, the aides who surrounded us, and the length of our convoys will have surrendered their importance. What will endure are the institutions we built, the roads we built and the lives we improved through service,” Shettima said.
He said the occasion reflected the importance of building lasting institutions and improving lives through investments in healthcare and education.
“According to Carl Sagan’s law of insignificance, 100 years from now, everyone you know or who knows you will be out of this world. This is why I do not doubt the vision of His Excellency Professor Babagana Umara Zulum; his passion for healthcare and education is expressed in the institution before us,” he added.
Shettima said the teaching hospital and schools established across Maiduguri and other parts of the state demonstrated the importance of ensuring that Borno’s recovery reached patients awaiting treatment and children seeking education.
