By Ekem John
While most of Akwa Ibom lay wrapped in slumber, a faint cry for help rose from Primary Health Centre (PHC), Idu Uruan. The on-duty nurse did what she was trained to do. She called for help. And somewhere in the still of the night, AKISEMSAS answered. Mrs Happiness Monday was in labour—her cries mingling with the night wind, her fate now resting in the hands of strangers turned angels.
Without hesitation, Ambulance 006 roared to life—its lights piercing the silence, its sirens whispering through the night, not in alarm but in purpose and its mission clear. Inside were two dedicated nurses, Mfreke Affah and Mmenyene Ubengama, and the steady hands of their driver, Mr. Ofonime Japhet.The roads were dark but their passion was lit. Life was calling. Together, they sped through the sleeping towns and winding roads, carrying within that moving metal shell both urgency and hope.
As contractions quickened and seconds blurred into heartbeats, the back of the ambulance transformed into a delivery room. Beneath flashing lights and steady hands, a male child fought his way into the world. Thick meconium-stained but life itself refused to be denied a chance in human flesh. His first breath was a blend of struggle and triumph. APGAR 7/10…The mother, Mrs. Happiness Monday, was guided through the storm by calm, skilled voices. At five minutes, APGAR stood at 9/10. Triumph at last!
He was suctioned, his airway cleared and soon his cry filled the ambulance—soft at first, then strong and defiant, slicing through the still night like a promise.
The promise that AKISEMSAS will always be there.
The placenta followed, carefully delivered using the controlled cord traction method. The team administered oxytocin, misoprostol, checked vital signs and ensured stability—all while in motion, en route to St. Luke’s Hospital, Anua, where Nurse M. U. Ikpe received mother and child at dawn. Our team at AKISEMSAS completed the sacred work with precision. Not in a theatre, not under a chandelier of operating lights, but in an ambulance rolling through the roads of Akwa Ibom—proof that the state’s investment in emergency care is not a headline; it is a heartbeat.
It wasn’t the first time our team will take delivery right inside our well-equipped ambulances. The first AKISEMSAS baby arrived months earlier, enroute to Iquita General Hospital from Urue Offong. And it is not the second and it won’t be the last. Because beyond the flashing sirens and the speed, what drives this team is heart—built by courage, training, discipline and the sacred duty to protect life wherever it chooses to begin.
So, here’s the point. While you and I slept, they delivered hope.While some doubted, they quietly proved it is possible.
As another child draws his first breath because help came swiftly, remember that every life saved is a story of teamwork, governance and grace in action. And as another mother cradles her newborn this morning, never forget—our shared future depends on those who dare to keep watch when others close their eyes. Nurses Mfreke Effah and Mmenyene Ubengama alongside our “pilot” Ofonime Japhet are our heroes.
Still I advise them to continue to wear this honour, bearing in mind the shifting loyalty, frailty and fickleness of the human mind. One morning people will shout hosanna to our messiah and by the same evening, crucify him. One and the same person. One and the same people.
Citizens of Akwa Ibom State, let us all support the Governor Umo Eno’s ongoing efforts to strengthen this lifeline.Together, we can make Akwa Ibom a state where help is always on the way—and where life, no matter how fragile, always finds a fighting chance.
John is the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Health
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