Copyright nigerianeye
Edo State Government has said Governor Monday Okpebholo reclaimed land from the Museum of West Africa Arts (MOWAA) to rebuild the General Hospital that was demolished by former governor, Godwin Obaseki. The hospital was demolished and MOWAA was established in its place. All parcel of land previously occupied by the General Hospital were ceded to MOWAA. Speaking at a news briefing in Benin City, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Prince Kassim Afegbua, said Governor Okpebholo took pre-eminent position with respect to health care delivery than a museum. He said it was only when people were well and healthy that they could go to a museum to look at artifacts. Afegbua said the entire MOWAA structure would have been demolished if Edo State Government had not invested over N3 billion in the project. He said suspicion about activities of MOWAA arose when it was changed from Edo Museum for West African Arts (EMOWAA) to Museum for West African Arts (MOWAA). Afegbua added: “Removing letter E, which stands for Edo. It ought to be Edo Museum of West African Arts. For them, removing E, that was where we drew our initial suspicion. And the explanation they gave for the removal of E was not tenable. By saying it was not marketable. That to us was a slap on our face. If you respect a state for the culture and tradition it represents, you respect the Bini empire of old as a very formidable empire that was able to stand the test of colonial invasion in 1897. And for such an empire to still exist with a king who is a cerebral diplomat, who has transferred countries to countries. And we say that that name Edo does not resonate the kind of appeal you wanted. “We felt it was like taking the handshake beyond the elbow. Our first instinct was to demolish the entire place and restore the sanctity of General Hospital. But again, we already invested N3 billion as a state government. We can’t throw that down the drain. “So what we have done is a middle road solution of ensuring that their expansionist policy was curtailed. And that’s what we have done. The land given to them, you can go there and see the demarcation. We will monitor to ensure they comply with the governor’s directive. “We understand that we are coming to inaugurate the first phase of that place. Good thing for the state that people will come and all that. But again, we cannot deny people access to health care delivery. The governor is determined to rebuild the General Hospital that was demolished for the museum.” Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
