Kano (Nigeria) — Governor Nasiru El-Rufai of Kaduna State, Northwest Nigeria, has renamed Kafanchan General Hospital, after late Governor of the State, Mr. Patrick Yakowa – the hospital is now called, ‘Patrick Yakowa Hospital’.
Late Yakowa is held in high regard by many for his ‘peace, unity and reconciliatory programmes’ in a state divided by deep wounds resulting from religious and ethnic conflicts.
The late Governor had a distinguished public service record. He was a Minister of the Federal Republic, Deputy Governor and then Governor of the state.
A statement by spokesperson of the Governor, Samuel Aruwan says the decision was to honour the late governor.
“The general hospitals in the major cities in Kaduna State are named in honour of citizens who had made notable contributions to the state. The general hospital in Zaria bears the name of Hajiya Gambo Sawaba, an activist who fought for Nigeria’s independence. The eminent name of Dr. Barau Dikko, the first medical doctor from Northern Nigeria and first president of the Northern Peoples Congress, graces the hospital in Kaduna that was recently accredited as a teaching hospital.
“General hospitals in Kaduna are also named after the revered late Chief of Kagoro, Gwamna Awan, and Alhaji Yusuf Dantsoho, a respected public servant.
“The only exception to this naming trend among the general hospitals in the major cities of Kaduna, Kafanchan and Zaria is the one in Kafanchan. That has now been remedied by the action of the Kaduna State Executive Council.”
