By STANLEY NWANOSIKE

Enugu residents on Sunday urged the Federal Government to make the Enugu State Diagnostic Centre operational as promised.

Those who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) charged government to ensure the functionality of the centre using the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).

They argued that this was necessary since the centre was handed over to the NSIA so it could be better equipped and managed for the benefit of Nigerians, especially those in the Southeast geopolitical zone.

The administration of former Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in Enugu State handed over the sprawling diagnostic centre and its extensive car parking lot to the NSIA, managers of Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund on May 2, 2023.

Enugu State government built, but did not equip the facility with medical machinery. It was used as the state’s isolation centre during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We thought the centre would come alive immediately it was handed over to the NSIA,’’ a resident, Mr Austin Nwafor, told NAN.

“To our greatest surprise, nothing is happening at the centre almost one year after the handing over.

“It seems the state government that conceived the centre and the NSIA that took it over are not prepared to make the centre come alive to serve its original purpose,’’ he said.

A community leader in Uwani part of Enugu, Chief Sunday Umunna, called on the Federal Government to redeem its promise about the centre.

Umunna noted that the centre would be a game-changer in healthcare delivery in the Southeast and make Enugu to become a medical tourism hub if it came on-stream.

“If the Federal Government through the NSIA fulfils its promise to make the centre a world-class centre for oncology and diagnostic services, it will turn Enugu into a health-tourism hub and referral city,” he said.

A nurse, Mrs Ify Ude, noted that there was a need for the centre to come alive and strengthen healthcare delivery in Enugu State.

“When it comes on-stream, the centre will provide accurate and timely diagnosis of ailments and add value to healthcare delivery.

“It will create jobs for health and non-health workers and become a veritable study centre for medical students,” she said.

A correspondent of NAN who visited the centre reports that it is well kept and neat contrary to insinuations that reptiles and weeds had taken over the facility.

NAN observed that some craftsmen were working on the centre’s blown roofs and replacing some of the damaged fittings.

Efforts to get NSIA officials or the health commissioner in Enugu State to comment on the centre proved abortive. (NAN)