The relocation of thousands of Nigerian medical practitioners to more conducive climes outside our borders calls for a national emergency. Government must not wait until morgues overflow with bodies before swinging into action. With most of the best doctors living in Europe and the Americas, service delivery at home has dwindled considerably. Going to the hospital for medical attention may eventually turn to suicide mission considering the number of casualties wheeled out of the theatre.

On February 2, 2024, Rebecca Sekidika, 24, was driven to a hospital in Port Harcourt for attention following what looked like a delayed period. She walked in carrying her laptop, preparatory to a trip to the United Kingdom for further studies. The Microbiology graduate of Benson Idahosa University, Benin only wanted to be sure of her medical status after her parents had made requisite travel arrangements and settled her fees.

The Sekidikas did not know that they had taken their child to her untimely death. After spending donkey hours waiting to see a doctor, Rebecca was finally attended to. Her dad had gone to town to sort out other issues that also needed attention hoping to come back to pick his wife and daughter. When he returned, it was a sad tale. Rebecca was stone dead after an abortive surgery. While she lay cold in the theatre, the floor was full of her innocent blood.

What happened was that wrong diagnosis was applied when there was no need for surgery, in the first place. The matter has been reported to the police. The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria will as usual wade in and refer the case to the Council Tribunal for further action. The Sekidikas are in mourning. Their joy has turned to sadness. No matter whatever punishment the bodies met out to the erring medical personnel, Rebecca cannot come back to life. The Health Care system in Nigeria lies comatose, in need of total surgical operation.

It is sad that nothing meaningful has been done by government to bring change. If the President chooses to get medical attention outside the country, it says so much about patriotism. Some of the best medical doctors around the globe are Nigerians. They are celebrated regularly. It is a shame that their country is in gross health care darkness. Some of them are willing to return and contribute to developmental needs. However, the government hardly considers that sector important. Health does not get enough budgetary allocation in a country where car park for legislators takes precedence over the health

The system is rotten because those in leadership positions do not care about the health of citizens. Rather, bullet proof cars and miserable palliatives give them relief

of citizens. The billions spent on official vehicles are more than enough to build world class hospitals. We are in a state of crisis. The country needs about 305,000 doctors. Every year, nearly 4,000 graduate from medical schools. It is disturbing that because of fallen standards, some of the fresh doctors may not gain direct entry into practice outside the country.

This tells the pathetic story of patients. When university lecturers spend more time embarking on industrial action, what they graduate will be a legion of half-baked professionals. In a country with ratio of one doctor to 10, 000 patients, far below the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation of one doctor to 5,000 patients, the death rate is scandalous.

Unfortunately, death appears to be the new normal. While about 10,000 Nigerian medical doctors are in the United Kingdom saving lives, millions of their countrymen face death in Nigeria due to political irresponsibility. There are thousands more in Canada, the United States, Australia, Saudi Arabia and even in the Gambia. Obviously, the major attraction is better working conditions. In Nigeria, doctors are paid peanuts while politicians, who contribute to the decline of the economy, stuff their pockets with hard currency.

In 2009, the Federal Government entered into an agreement with the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to review doctor’s salary structure every five years. This has worked more on paper than in action and the consequence is there for even the blind to see. A patient underwent surgery for fibroid in an Ilorin hospital recently. At the end, she developed a stiff neck. She was blamed for answering phone calls. All the medications offered to relieve her pains failed.

When the husband began to roar like a lion after a call to a consultant elsewhere, his wife got the needed attention. That is the quality of Medicare we have. Government must wake up to its responsibility. Many Nigerians face hunger daily and are unable to fly to London or Paris to receive proper diagnosis. It does not take rocket science to upgrade existing facilities in the country.

The system is rotten because those in leadership positions do not care about the health of citizens. Rather, bullet proof cars and miserable palliatives give them relief. The result is that our best doctors have been forced out of the country. The same leaders whose maladministration caused the brain drain, jet out, to fix their health leaving the people in the hands of overworked and sometimes, half-baked medics, as undertakers.

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