My donations to schools humanitarian, not political, says Obi

Mr. Peter Obi, the former Vice Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in 2019, claims that his financial support for schools and health institutions has no political overtones.
Obi stated this during a visit to Madonna Catholic Hospital in Umuahia, where he donated N1.5 million to the facility.
He stated that the gesture was inspired by his passion for humanitarian service, and that he began working with refugees before becoming Governor of Anambra in 2007.
He stated that as part of his contribution to alleviating the plight of citizens of war-torn African countries, he had traveled to Afghanistan, Rwanda, and Haiti to do refugee work.
“What I do is planned giving, and the goal is to raise people’s consciousness and consciences about the importance of doing good for humanity.”
It has nothing to do with being a member of the government or politics.

“And I want people to understand that being in politics is about more than just contesting and winning elections; it’s about finding a way to positively impact people’s lives inside and outside of government,” Obi said.
He stated that he had visited over 150 schools, including approximately 40 health institutions, across the federation.
He has pledged over N200 million to the project, which includes cash donations and pledges that will be redeemed in batches, according to him.
He stated that the funds were raised through his personal resources as well as the support of his friends and others who shared his mission.
“My hospital donations are to help defray the bills of indigent patients who were discharged but could not go home because they couldn’t afford to pay their bills,” he explained.
The former governor thanked the Church for stepping in to bridge the gap in addressing the citizens’ health needs.

“The Church is doing what the government should do,” he said. As a result, it assists the government in carrying out its responsibilities to the people.”
He expressed concern that successive governments in the country had failed to address critical citizen needs due to corruption and incompetence on the part of some political office holders.
Obi expressed concern that the nation’s health sector’s declining population of nurses and other critical health workers “foreshadows great danger if urgent steps are not taken to reverse the trend.”
As a result, he admonished the student nurses at the facility who had gathered to greet him to be serious and committed to their programs.
“There has been a progressive and steady depletion in the number of nurses in our health institutions,” Obi said. “The situation requires seriousness on your part because the nation will be in high demand for nurses in the future.”

In response, the hospital’s administrator, Rev. Fr. Christian Anokwuru, who showed Obi around the facility, thanked him profusely for his visit.
“Your visit has come as a complete surprise to us. We will be eternally grateful to you and pray to God to increase the size of your coast.” It is our ambition to continue assisting the government, humanity, and society.
“The Church is putting the framework in place to realize the dream,” the cleric explained.
Anokwuru and his assistant, Rev. Fr. Jude Amaechi, later took Obi to inspect the Madonna College of Health Technology, Olokoro, which the Catholic Diocese of Umuahia had recently built.
Obi was accompanied on the visit by his former Commissioner for Urban Development, Mr Patrick Nky-Obi, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).