…As Dr. Maduka vows to turn Umuchukwu into university town
By Sam Otti
With the recent commissioning of an ultra-modern Medical Research Centre by Governor Willie Obiano, Umuchukwu community in Orumba South Local Government Area in Anambra State will soon become a university town. The 17-floor edifice, which was constructed at the cost of N3.1billion, was single-handedly funded by a United States-based physician, Dr Godwin Maduka.
While commissioning the medical centre, along with a modern High Court and nine other community development projects donated by Dr Maduka, Obiano hailed the selfless efforts of the sole financier of the projects.
According to the governor, Maduka, the Medical Director, Las Vegas Pain Institute and Medical Centre, has invested over $20 million (dollars) in various community development projects in Umuchukwu. Findings revealed that the Medical Research Centre, would be modelled after the Las Vegas Pain Institute and Medical Centre, which currently ranks among the largest in the city.
A close aide to Dr. Maduka, Ray Onyegu, told Campus Sun, that the Umuchukwu facility would become the hub of medical research in the country, where cutting-edge technology would be utilised to teach medical students, for researches by scholars as well as other medical treatments.
Onyegu said a formal application has been made to a public university (name withheld) to host the Department of Public Health at the Umuchukwu Medical Centre. According to him, a 40-flat residential building and other residential quarters had been successfully completed within the vicinity of the towering medical centre to serve the accommodation needs of thousands of students and academic staff.
He said state-of-the-art medical facilities had been procured for the take-off of the medial centre, while modern laboratories, with cutting-edge technologies would be imported from India and the United States for the effective handling of chronic and life-threatening diseases like cervical cancer, breast cancer, heart and liver infections, kidney diseases, among others.
He said the Umuchukwu Medical Research Centre would leverage on the success story of Las Vegas Pain Institute to establish linkages with other renowned medical scholars and institutions in the United States.
“Dr Maduka is the Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor of Pain Management, and Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor of Anaesthesiology, respectively at Touro University, Henderson,” Onyegu explains. “He is a licensed pharmacist by the Tennessee Board of Pharmacy. He is also the Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, University of Nevada School of Medicine. He combines academic, research and professional practice. Of course, he will use his positive influence to attract partnerships when the Umuchukwu Medical Centre takes off as scheduled,” he said.
Speaking at the Umuchukwu Ambassadors of Peace Award ceremony, where he bagged a hero award in recognition of his community development initiatives, Dr Maduka confirmed that Umuchukwu would soon become a university town. He described education as a tool for empowering the younger generation, noting that establishing a modern university in the locality would open access to university education for students living in Orumba communities and their environs.
To this end, he vowed not rest on his oars in his selfless efforts to make the community a modern city, equipped with all the facilities that would make life better for the people.
The President General, Umuchukwu Progressive Union, Hon Okechukwu Nwele, said the determination of Dr Maduka to assist the Nigerian government in developing rural communities had turned Umuchukwu to a place of delight. He appealed to both the state and federal governments to reciprocate the Maduka’s gesture by making their presence felt in the area, through other projects.
He revealed that students in Umuchukwu go to school with joy, as they enjoy free education from the US-based philanthropist. According to him, enrolment in primary, secondary and tertiary education in Umuchukwu has increased rapidly through Maduka’s scholarship programmes and safety nets for poor families.