PROPERTY Health workers build N1.3bn house, N1.2bn hospital
The Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) has ventured into property investment with the commissioning of a N1.3 billion hotel in Abuja in 2015 and last week`s foundation laying of a 300-bed hospital at the cost of N1.2bn.
Today, trade unions are taking after the America Solidarity Centre and other global unions who have invested heavily in business and are less dependent on the usual check-off dues from employers.
It is not only agitations and strike actions that unions should be known for, a point MHWUN proved right when it commissioned its N1.3bn national secretariat in Abuja in September, 2015.
Not many believe it could be possible for a union to raise such investment, but after painstaking efforts, MHWUN redefined unionism. The MHWUN building is located at the Cadastral Zone in Durumi District.
The edifice, christened Waba House, is a multi-purpose three storey building which comprises of a hotel, office space and shops. It also serves as the union’s secretariat.
Daily Trust gathered that the building was erected without any loan from commercial banks, but was funded from the check-off dues of its members.
The ground floor contains 15 shopping centres and malls for rent, two conference halls of 150 and 500 sitting capacities.
The second floor serves as the national secretariat of MHWUN, while the third floor is a hotel with more than 30 rooms for lodging.
MHWUN President, Comrade Biobemoye Joy Josiah, said the building was a pride to health workers.
He said the idea behind the construction of the multi-purpose building was to change the way union business was done: not relying on check-off dues, adding that it was a way of diversifying the union’s sources of income and making the union selfreliant.
He further said no loan was taken from the banks but that members levied to complete the project.
“The hotel and the halls would bring revenue for us. The design is that, with time, the structure would be self-servicing in terms of running the utility and other things because funds that would be generated from the building can be used to take care of other costs.”
Building on the success that followed its secretariat, last week, MHWUN laid the foundation for its proposed N1.2bn 300-bed specialist hospital in Abuja.
Following the foundation, the union has begun construction work of the first phase of the project, a 150bed space, in Daki Biyu District, and has earmarked N300m for its timely completion.
Not only did the union begin the hospital construction, it also commissioned a half kilometre road leading to its headquarters in Durumi District.
Comrade Josiah said the hospital would be completed within 18 months. He said the sum of N300m had been mapped out to ensure that the construction took off immediately.
Josiah said the hospital would include a staff quarters and other international standard facilities.
“We have about 1.4 hectares of land here, and the edifice, when completed, will be well-equipped for quick intervention, referrals, among others, for quality health service delivery,” he assured.
He further said the reason for the establishment of the hospital was to provide direct intervention against the high rate of medical tourism being witnessed in the country, lamenting that huge amounts of money left the shores of Nigeria daily.
He further said the hospital would help to ease the challenges some of the members of the union faced while trying to access medical care.
Josiah said the hospital would help the union not to rely only on check-up dues for funding but would generate funds through investment.
The MHWUN president further explained that at a time when government was facing the challenge of providing quality healthcare service to Nigerians, the union had come to the rescue with the building.
He said, “The idea to build the hospital was initiated to provide direct intervention against the high rate of medical tourism outside the country. And if only the huge amounts of money that leave the shores of Nigeria daily are utilised to build and equip hospitals in the country, our problem would have been half solved. But it’s a pity the reverse is the case.”
President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, who performed the foundation laying; said the project would promote social justice as both the rich and poor would be able to access the facilities.
He called on other unions to embark on projects that would generate revenue, create jobs and accelerate development in communities and the country at large.
However, observers are of the view that the union venturing into such a huge and complex project might be overwhelmed, but comrade Josiah assured that the union, made up of health workers from different fields, had the expertise and capability of running a world class hospital.