INTRODUCTION
Dr. Umezurike Howard Akuma Daniel is a consultant surgeon and an astute medical doctor. His credentials include the FWACS and FICS. In the field of medicine and surgery, he has been awarded the following professional honors: Fellow of the West African College of Surgeons (FWACS), and Fellow of the International College of Surgeons (FICS).
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EARLY LIFE/EDUCATION
Dr. Umezurike was born on August 18th, 1971 in the community of Agugwu-Umunaga, Uburu, located within the Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. He started his education at the esteemed Umunaga Primary School, where he excelled academically, and then moved on to the Uburu Secondary School, where he earned his West African School Certificate after achieving exceptional results in his studies there.
Because of his intelligence, he was granted entry into Abia State University in Uturu to study medicine and surgery. He received his MBBS degree there in 1999 after completing his studies.
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CAREER
To his credit, Dr. Umezurike has contributed to a significant number of scholarly articles and periodicals, both locally and abroad. He is widely regarded as an authority in the field of medicine due to the significant contributions he has made to the industry. Testimonies abound of his God-given talents and skills, which attest to the survival of his patients after they have undergone surgery, and he works as a Consultant Surgeon. He has received an incredible number of honors and prizes from a wide variety of academic institutions and organizations, both public and private.
On July 1, 2015, Dr. Umezurike was given the position of Honorable Commissioner for Health in Ebonyi State by His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. Chief David Umahi Nweze FNSE, FNATE in his first term. This appointment was made by the governor. As a result of the effort and dedication he has shown, he has been given the position of Honorable Commissioner for Health for a second time.
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When Dr. Umezurike was appointed as the Honorable Commissioner for Health, he immediately put his extensive professional experience to use. As a result, the Ministry of Health was able to record a number of accomplishments that had previously been overlooked within just one year of his first term in office.
The management and treatment of Lassa fever and other hemorrhagic fevers will now be provided by an ultra-modern Virology Centre that was built and finished by the Ministry of Health under the leadership of this Medical Icon at FETHA II, Abakaliki. This Centre cost multiple millions of Naira. This Center is the first of its sort in all of South East Nigeria, and the Minister of Health has acknowledged that it is the best facility of its kind in all of Nigeria. It is also to the honorable Commissioner’s credit that the Ebonyi State Primary Health Care Development Agency board and Primary Healthcare have been brought together under one roof, and that the successful transfer of all PHC staff in the Local Government to the board has been accomplished. It is on record that at the time of his appointment, the State is rated as the last out of the 36 States, and the State used to score zero by the National Primary Health care Development Agency, but after one year in 2016, Ebonyi State is ahead of all other States in the Federation, courtesy of the National Primary Health care Development Agency. This is due to the fact that the National Primary Health care Development Agency has been able to improve the State’s primary healthcare system.
The assistance provided to the Ministry by His Excellency, Engineer Chief David Umahi, in this respect. In a similar fashion, a great number of the Ministry’s other boards have been reorganized and given new responsibilities.
Under his direction, the Ebonyi State College of Nursing and Midwifery in Uburu was built from the ground up, including a student dormitory and housing for faculty and staff, among other facilities. In November of 2018, the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria awarded the college with full accreditation, and it is currently operating at its full capacity.
The establishment of an ultra-modern teaching hospital at the Ebonyi State University in Uburu was one of the new achievements that His Excellency was able to accomplish during his second tenure.
As a commissioner, he was in charge of a five-person team that went to the University of Portharcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), and the findings from that trip formed the basis of the brief that was given to the architect in charge of designing our teaching hospital. UPTH stands for the University of Portharcourt Teaching Hospital.
His achievements in the suppression of pandemic outbreaks, such as cholera and Lassa fever, that were ongoing even before he was appointed are certainly worthy of praise. The fact that the Ministry of Health, which is also led by Dr. Umezurike Daniel, was awarded the title of top Malaria performing State in both 2015 (August) and 2016 is evidence that the Ministry’s efforts to combat the disease are producing rapid results.
This gentleman Commissioner, as he is affectionately referred to by his team, conducts an open-door leadership that enables all staff members to make contributions towards any matters influencing the growth of the Ministry. The countless successes that have been attained up to this point can be attributed to the admiration that he has for the entire cadre of personnel.
Dr. Umezurike has also begun the legislative process for the Ebonyi State Health Insurance Scheme bill and the School Health Ngbo. Both of these bills are in the process of being enacted into law. And as of today, the Ebonyi State Health Insurance Agency has been set up and is doing business.
The Ministry of Health is now working on a wide variety of other projects, including the modernization of all of the Primary Health Care Centers and the improvement of each of the country’s thirteen general hospitals. Aside from that, the Ministry has kept up with all of her immunization initiatives in order to guarantee that no one from Ebonyi would perish from a sickness that could have been prevented with vaccination.
In the month leading up to his appointment as the Honorable Commissioner for Health for the second time, he began yet another procedure of releasing a counterpart fund in preparation for the rollout of the Basic Health care provision fund and the State Health Insurance Agency.
FAMILY
Dr. Umezurike is an avid sports fan. He has been married to his wife, Associate Prof. (Mrs.) Grace Umezurike, for many years, and the couple now has several children together.