How the Department of Engineering Services is supporting Ahidjo’s vision to achieve growth leading to success in UMTH

How the Department of Engineering Services is supporting Ahidjo’s vision to achieve growth leading to success in UMTH

By: Balami Lazarus

With huge buildings and other engineering services ongoing at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), little is known to persons outside the hospital that a large Department of Engineering Services manned by certified professional engineers working with Professor Ahmed Ahidjo’s management team has been part of the success story of the largest hospital in Nigeria.

This department is responsible for the day-to-day engineering activities of 

the hospital; physical development, building, civil, and general maintenance of the hospital. This collaborative move and sharing of responsibility between the management team and the department of engineering services has saved UMTH a lot of money, thereby keeping all services ongoing at the pace of plans being executed by the management, bringing about changes on a daily basis that are not only the pride of Borno State, the northeast, but Nigeria as a whole.

Prof. Ahmed Ahidjo

Most people tend to limit engineering work and services to building and civil projects that are located in these areas. However, NEWSng recently took a tour of the engineering department to assess its input in the dramatic changes taking place in the hospital beyond the surface of the building where this department is standing. During the tour, it was discovered that beyond works, the department of engineering at the UMTH stood tall in the idea generation for the beautiful architectural output visible to visitors, who continuously admire the efforts being put in by the Professor Ahidjo management team to give the hospital the desired outcome for better services in the technicality of managing such a big health institution in Nigeria.

Working beyond work services, the engineering services of UMTH focus on re-engineering the staff capacity to dream big in fashioning its activities through services and maintenance. This makes it one of the essential services departments in the non-clinical section of the hospital, playing the role of physical and health engineering in this hospital system. While digging further to know more about the department, NEWSng learned more about health engineering services and why they are necessary in hospital settings such as those seen in the UMTH. 

While earlier considering the management of sanitary and evacuation of waste in the hospital, the visits opened a chapter on understanding what engineering services also stand for in it’s concerns with sanitary and evacuation of liquid and solid waste in the hospital to make for a healthy atmosphere and environment of the hospital, which is carried out by the Department of Engineering Services as part of their responsibilities.

Engineer Modu Ali Gana, who heads the Engineering Department, revealed during a chat with NEWSng that his department not only ends their work on building and engineering projects. According to him, “We are also into maintenance and services, which is why we are the Department of Engineering Services. We are also into the technical matters of the hospital because we have personnel who are qualified and experienced for such work. And here we speak engineering and technical language.”.

Engineer Modu added that both engineering and technical work are capital projects and are properly handled by professional and experienced men in the department.

NEWSng also understands that there is no doubt about what Engr. Gana said regarding the role of the department in adding value to the hospital considering the various projects undertaken by the department of engineering services in terms of road construction, supervision, and maintenance of capital projects, including the total evacuation of liquid and solid waste. 

“Hospitals of this size have several minor sewages that flow daily into the central swage of liquid waste. This is a daily affair. If my department is not involved in the evacuation of this waste and the draining of the sewage, you and I cannot stay here and discuss comfortably. In fact, the hospital should have become a pigsty.”. He explained. “Hospitals are known to be one of the cleanest structures in the health care sector, and UMTH can boast of being one of the cleanest hospitals in Nigeria.” He said

During the visit, NEWSng came across some large incinerators where solid waste is disposed of. This was further explained by the head of the engineering department, Engr. Modu Gana, who said, “Disposal and evacuation of waste are not limited to the vicinity of the hospital, but staff residents, medical students, and school of nursing hostels and offices are not left out. You can see that we are everywhere and need to create a pleasant environment, and we are doing our best to create a healthy environment both for our patients, staff, and visitors to the hospital.”

Another area of interest for the department is the road. There is a good, accessible road network within this renowned hospital, which was constructed by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing Abuja (FMW&H) and maintained by the department of engineering services. It takes serious lobbying by the management team to have these road networks in place. Also, NEWSng learned that some of the newly constructed roads, about 1.6 km, were named after personalities like Mohammad Bukar, Jibril Aminu, Babatunde Raji Fashola, and Babangida Husseini for their various contributions and support to the UMTH. 

Considering the growth, progress, and successes achieved through the department of engineering services, one can clearly see the pulses in Professor Ahmed Ahidjo’s vision. Indeed, this is why Engr. Modu Gana said with affirmation that. “Our achievements are numerous. We supervised all the completed projects in the hospital, including the Cancer Center, the Radiology Intervention Project, and the Child Institute Center, among others. There are some ongoing projects that my department is supervising at present. We are the lifewire of structural, mechanical, electrical, and electronics, civil engineering structures, and technical services.”

While growth leads to success, the challenges faced by this department are equally the major challenge of the hospital: the issue of power. The need for power is essential in order to maintain facilities, machines, and tools that aid in the running of the department of engineering services and the entire hospital. Therefore, there are urgent calls on the government and spirited individuals to support the hospital and overcome the challenge of power supply to the hospital.

How the Department of Engineering Services is supporting Ahidjo’s vision to achieve growth leading to success in UMTH