By Joseph Odok PhD Esq
As a young postulant of the Vincentian community (as I then was) and in line with St Vincent De Paul call for service to the poor we were posted to work with the Center for Mentally ill in Amaudo Itumbuzor, Bende Local Government Area, Abia state. The center was managed by a Methodist Roseline Cowill and some white colleagues who managed the mental home.
Rev. Fr. Evaristus Igwe our Postulant Director had sent us for apostolic work as part of priestly formation including Sebastian Ukoh and Nicholas Ibenene (now Vincentian priests of the Congregations of the Mission). This experience is one challenging but memorable experience I won’t want to forget as it imprinted in me what good governance, charity, sacrifice and humanity means. The significant persons that shaped my experience at this point were Roseline Cowill, the Vincentian community and former governor of Abia now Sen Orji Uzor Kalu.
The nature of our apostolate as defined by Roseline Cowill in our mandate upon arrival was to stay in the mental home and live a community life that will help rehabilitate the mentally ill people of Abia state for rehabilitation, repatriation and employment by the Governor Orji Uzor Kalu government of Abia State.
I quite know governance was very close to the people in 1999 and I saw that visible in the style of governance displayed by former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu, now Senator. Nothing brought me close to Sen Kalu, our focus was on the mentally ill, even after 1999 I have never met or seen Sen Kalu till date. However what attracted me to his style of governance was his dedication to the mentally ill.
His routine participatory drive towards ridding Abia streets of all mentally deranged people had a humanitarian, capacity building and human development touch that is uncommon till date in most states since 1999. I may be mistaken and will be humbled to be corrected if there may be such gestures replicated to the mentally deranged persons in any other states that I am truly not aware of.
As part of his activities Sen OUK had a routine of worshiping with the mentally sick community of Amaudo Itumbuzor in their chapel once every three week; it was in one of this his worship with us that I had my first sight of a Nigerian Governor back then in 1999. That sense of the mentally ill having a governor that worships with them was not just therapeutic but perceived as a high form of humanity expressed.
The contribution of Former Governor OUK to the rehabilitation of mentally ill included building the chapel, provisions of choir robes, regular provision of pharmaceutical drugs, training of staff of the home, food and sports. There was also provisions for logistics for constant repatriation of the mentally ill persons to their families with free drugs while Roseline Cowill and the management of the home had a constant visit to such homes throughout all the local government of Abia for monitoring, evaluation and repatriation of relapsed patients back to the mental home for more attention.
The design of the program had an engagement of recovered mentally ill persons into the Abia State Civil service. Most rehabilitated inmates of the home got better and were employed into the Abia State Civil Service and began living normal life thereafter.
In our Nigeria of today management of the mentally ill has been very poor with most streets of Nigeria littered with deranged people sometimes posing not only nuisance but threats. The OUK strategy is more important now to be replicated to solve some humanitarian crisis especially in Nigeria of today.
