Ordinarily, the term prosperity refers to a condition of enjoying wealth, success or good fortune. This common understanding is applied to a narrow privileged few because not everyone is opportune to enjoy prosperity or good fortune. Majority of people suffer from poverty and have little or nothing to enjoy. In the strictest sense of the word, therefore, only the rich enjoy prosperity, wealth or good fortune.
From another angle, however, when the word “shared” is added to prosperity to read “Shared Prosperity”, the perspective changes from applying to a privileged group to the masses of the people. In this regard, wealth, success or good fortune is enjoyed by many people and no longer by a privileged group.

It needs to be stated here that “shared prosperity” does not happen by accident. It comes by deliberate decision and action. There is no wealth or success that ordinarily falls from heaven for everybody to enjoy without a visible hand working behind it. Not even the gifts of nature like rain, sunshine, wind, etc, occur without the invisible hand of the sovereign creator.

What that means is that for the masses of the people to enjoy any good in whatever form, there must be a change agent deliberately working to realize it. This applies to all levels of human existence; be it family, community, local government, state or federal.

Except there is a visible deliberate effort by the authority in-charge or by private humanitarian effort to make life meaningful for everybody, good life will elude the masses but concentrate on a privileged group within the setting.

Examples abound all over the place. There are families, communities and countries where a few feed fat and enjoy the goodies of life while the majority of the people live in penury and want. Many African countries are classified as poverty stricken because the masses of the people lack everything but their leaders live in stupendous wealth and affluence.

In Nigeria, mass poverty is the norm but the political class and their cronies revel in wealth and prosperity. The reverse is the case in the Western world where the concept of shared prosperity has meaning. In those countries, everybody enjoys a minimum living standard that is not compromised.

In Japan, for instance, where I lived and worked, there is practically no poverty. Wealth and prosperity are shared for everyone to have a feel. Nobody is on the street as homeless. No one is hungry or begging or food.

All these are possible because the authorities deliberately decided to make good life reach every citizen. The prosperity in the Western countries is not hoarded or personalised by their leaders to the detriment of the people. Political leaders don’t amass wealth while the people lavish in want.

It is against the foregoing backdrop that the Imo State Governor Senator Hope Uzodimma launched the shared prosperity philosophy to drive his administration. Uzodimma’s shared prosperity mantra is quite in order as a framework for implementing his government’s policies and programmes. It is ideal for any serious government to have a philosophy, a policy framework to guide its actions aimed at serving the people.

The Imo shared prosperity slogan is a proactive strategy aimed at identifying the critical needs of the people and, therefore, giving them urgent attention in order to navigate the state into prosperity. The welfare of the people should be the desire of any responsible government. This is because the welfare and security of the people is the primary responsibility of government.

Thus, inside the shared prosperity initiative are issues like roads infrastructure development, education, healthcare, agriculture and urban renewal, among others. All these are critical needs which enhance good living that manifests in quality of life and security of the people.

The realization of quality of life objective under shared prosperity should not be the duty of government alone. Institutions, organizations and philanthropic-minded private individuals also contribute to shared prosperity.

The pervasive poverty and lack of basic social amenities in our communities inexorably call for individual or private citizen’s participation to make shared prosperity a reality. Thus, any private individual that has this belief that it is possible to make good life available to all is an apostle of shared prosperity.

It is from this perspective that Reverend Fr. Chrysostom Onyekakeyah launched the St. Kathrine Orthodox Hospital in Umuofor Owu-Amakohia in Ikeduru Local Government Council of Imo State.

Fr. Chrysostom, the Chairman/Founder of the laudable people-focused hospital project is worried with the fact that the people of Ikeduru do not have easy access to any functional healthcare facility. The people have no choice but to travel long distance to get to the nearest healthcare facility in the state.

Without doubt, healthcare is one of the biggest challenges facing our entire nation Nigeria. One of the major problems is the unavailability of modern medical equipment to provide adequate healthcare.

Given this grim picture, there is dire need for all hands to be on deck to ensure that quality and timely healthcare services reach every nook and cranny of our Nigerian communities.

Due to the non-availability and affordability of public healthcare, and added to the low quality of healthcare in our rural communities, majority of our people turn to quacks and self-medication as their available choice, with severe consequences.

It was in the face of this grim situation that the construction of St. Katherine Orthodox Hospital was conceived to fill a gap, backed with the overwhelming inspiration drawn from the “Shared Prosperity” philosophy of Senator Hope Uzodinmma. Thus, the need to contribute in providing quality healthcare services using up-to-date, state-of-the-art equipment and qualified personnel with the required know-how.

St. Katherine Hospital was conceived to provide accessible healthcare to everyone in need of it. By so doing, it will be responding to the invitation of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Divine Healer Himself, “who came that we may have life and have it in abundance” (John 10:10).

This has proven to be a requisite condition for sustainable growth and development as envisioned in the “Shared Prosperity” initiative of Governor Hope Uzodimma. Fr. Chrysostom seeks to achieve his aim by building the healthcare facility as his own contribution to governance through the provision of quality and affordable healthcare services in Ikeduru and neighboring communities.

The hospital will provide reasonable, responsible, affordable and comprehensive services to cover many healthcare needs as well as provide preventive and curative outpatient services such as General Medicine, Dental, Physiotherapy and Orthopedics, Common Laboratory tests, Pain Management and Support Services, etc.

The hospital is projected to serve roughly about 5,000 outpatients and 1,500 in-patients annually. It will also provide employment to no less than 150 personnel by the time it is completed latest by the end of June, 2022. Thereafter, the needed equipment will be brought in for actual operations to commence.

Speaking during his visit to the project site, the Imo State Commissioner Health Dr. Prosper Ohayagha Success described the hospital as heaven on earth for Ikeduru people when completed. He appreciated the effort and foresight of Fr. Chrysostom Onyekakeyah in establishing the hospital.

The management of the project will appreciate any support extended it by way of advice or otherwise that would help to make the hospital meet the required standard for excellent service.