The people of Ihima in Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi State witnessed an unprecedented moment of joy and development as Senator Natasha Hadiza Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, commissioned a state-of-the-art maternity centre to mark her 46th birthday.
The facility, strategically built and fully equipped with modern 21st-century maternal and neonatal technologies, stands as a monumental gift to Kogi Central and Nigerians at large.
The commissioning ceremony drew community leaders, health professionals, women groups, traditional rulers, and supporters who described the project as one of the most transformative health interventions in the district’s recent history.
During her address, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan clarified widespread assumptions regarding funding sources. She disclosed that the maternity centre was financed through a crowdfunding initiative—not through Kogi Central Senatorial District constituency allocations.
According to her, “Ninety-nine percent of the people who contributed financially to this maternity centre are not even from Kogi State. This project is a people-driven gift, a labour of love, and completely separate from constituency funds.”
She emphasized that this transparency was important to correct misinformation and to reaffirm her commitment to accountability and ethical representation.
The Senator further clarified that the development projects she recently initiated at the Federal Government College (FGC) Idoani including the auditorium and staff quarters were also financed outside the constituency budget.
She noted that leadership to her, is not merely the allocation of public funds but the capacity to inspire collaborations, attract goodwill and mobilize resources for the common good.
Clarifying yet another trending conversation, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan reiterated that the six newly built houses she gifted to her six legislative aides were funded from her personal purse.
“Those houses were built by me personally. They are not constituency projects. They are my way of appreciating loyal aides who have walked this journey with me,” she said, stressing the need for public officers to distinguish their private philanthropy from official responsibilities.
Healthcare experts who toured the new maternity centre described it as one of the finest community-level maternal facilities in the North-Central region. With world-class delivery suites, neonatal units, digital monitoring systems and emergency response equipment, the centre is designed to reduce maternal and infant mortality while improving access to quality care.
Residents of Ihima expressed gratitude for what they termed “a miracle long awaited,” noting that the centre would serve thousands of families within and beyond Kogi Central.
As she marked her 46th birthday, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan reaffirmed that her mission in public service is rooted in compassion, inclusiveness and responsible stewardship.
Her slogan “Making the Strange Familiar” resonated through the ceremony, symbolizing her ability to turn dreams into visible, functional realities often in ways no one expects.
For Kogi Central, this birthday gift is more than a building; it is a flare of hope, a proof to community collaboration and a cue that leadership is measured not only by legislation but by humanity.
