Zulum arrives hospital during blackout, intervenes

The Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Zulum, showed up unannounced at two hospitals in Maiduguri only to find patients in darkness due to power failure that had lingered for several days.

It was gathered that Gov Zulum paid surprise visits at about 10pm Friday at Umaru Shehu Ultra Modern Hospital and Fatima Ali Sheriff Maternity Hospital, both around densely populated Bulumkutu communities in Maiduguri.

Sources say he had just returned from Abuja and decided to drive from the airport straight to the hospitals, after he got the hint from private sources that the hospitals were under blackout for days.

The hospitals were said to be in darkness because of lack of diesel to power standby generators.

Both hospitals have relied on generators for power supply because of lack of electricity supply from the national grid since Boko Haram destroyed electricity equipment along the Maiduguri-Damaturu highway.

Zulum, a professor of engineering, asked persons in charge of generators at both hospitals some technical questions, which led to his confirmation that the generators had no problems but only lacked diesel to power them.

“It is unfortunate that no official either from the Hospital Management Board or the Ministry of Health drew my attention to this outage,” the governor said.

“If we can power our streetlights constantly, I see no reason why we cannot power our hospitals,” he added.

Meanwhile, as part of measures to ensure sustainable electricity in both hospitals, Governor Zulum, last night, directed an upgrade of the existing solar-powered installation at Fatima Ali Sheriff Maternity Hospital and solar installations at Umaru Shehu Ultra-Modern Hospital.