Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno has questioned a contractor over the sequencing of work at a hospital construction site after discovering that construction began with a mortuary, gatehouse and chapel.
In a video that has since gone viral on social media, the governor rejected a document displayed on the contractor’s mobile phone, insisting it did not constitute a proper building plan.
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“It doesn’t work with me, there’s no plan for me to view,” the governor said.
When the building plan was shown to him, the contractor explained that work had commenced with the gatehouse, mortuary and chapel.
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Reacting jokingly, the governor expressed dissatisfaction with the approach.
“Why do you start with a mortuary? I said build a hospital, and you start with a mortuary,” he said to the contractor.
The video was shot by Idara Adiakpan, the governor’s official photographer.
According to a post on the state government’s Facebook page, the exchange took place at the construction site of the General Hospital in the governor’s country home, Ikot Ekpene Udo.
Parody video and official reaction
Following the video’s circulation, a blogger in the state, Kingsley Umanah, shared a parody clip mimicking the governor and recreating the scene.
The original video was also shared by the governor’s photographer, Ms Adiakpan, who reacted humorously to the parody.
“Who knows his location? We need to catch this impersonator… Reward for anyone who will help us catch him. Thanks in advance,” Ms Adiakpan wrote on the video.
The post has attracted numerous comments from social media users, with many weighing in on project planning and execution.
“As a project manager, starting a hospital project with a mortuary and chapel instead of core medical facilities shows poor project management from the contractor; it reflects scope misalignment, wrong prioritisation, and failure to deliver value early,” a Facebook user, Udeme Gordian, wrote.
“A proper work breakdown structure would have helped. The sequencing ignores the hospital’s main objective, saving lives, and leads to schedule inefficiency, stakeholder dissatisfaction, and reputational risk.
“Proper project management would prioritise clinical and emergency services first, with support facilities like the mortuary and chapel delivered in later phases,” he added.
Another Facebook user, Great Ak-Bassey, questioned the continued reliance on foreign contractors.
“Why do we still hand over major construction projects to white foreigners when Nigeria has produced millions of trained construction graduates?
“This mindset suggests that we trust outsiders more than our own people, even when the skills exist locally. As a result, Nigerians are denied jobs, experience, and the chance to grow our own companies, while huge amounts of money leave the country.
“If we truly want development, we must start believing in Nigerian professionals, support them with proper funding, and hold them accountable to deliver quality work.”
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Background
Mr Eno had earlier declared a state of emergency in the health sector and ordered the recruitment of 3,000 health workers to address manpower gaps.
His administration has also increased salaries for health workers, commenced the construction of 31 model primary healthcare centres across all local governments, completed and commissioned a General Hospital in Ukanafun, and is currently building another in his country home, where the encounter with the contractor occurred.
