Zamfara, one of the states in Nigeria’s North-West, has only 10 qualified government-sponsored medical doctors serving in it, a federal lawmaker from the state has sensationally revealed.

Zamfara had a population of 3,278,873 as at the time of the 2006 census and is believed to have about 4 million people by now. But the state has only 10 medical doctors, according to Hon. Ibrahim Shehu Gusau, the member representing Gusau/Safe Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.

Hon. Gusau, who spoke yesterday when he appeared on the ‘hot seat’ interview programme of the House of Representatives Press Corps in Abuja, blamed successive administrations in the state for the pathetic situation, which he said had exposed the people of the state to untold suffering and avoidable death.

He particularly blamed Governor Abdullaziz Yari for compounding the situation by failing to provide conducive working environment for doctors and nurses in the state who were left with no option but to seek greener pastures in other parts of the country.

Gusau, who recently defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), cited this sad state of affairs as one of the reasons why he wants to become Zamfara’s governor from next year.

Sounding upbeat about his chances, he said: “I, and my party, the PDP, have a bright chance of winning the governorship elections because of certain calculations. And I can tell you this, in Zamfara State, we have three senatorial zones, and out of these three zones, I happen to come from the central zone. And in 16 years of democracy, my zone has not produced a governor. However, the other two zones have produced two and one governor respectively.

“My place (state) is being degraded so fast that I have to do something to rescue it, and 2015 is the time to do that. Sixteen years of democracy has not yielded anything for the people of the state. Take education for instance, each time examinations are held, Zamfara State always scored the lowest, you can check the statistics.

“There are no infrastructures in the state. No medical facilities and personnel. A situation where you have less than 10 doctors and nurses is a crisis of epic proportion, and the insecurity that has gone on unabated is unacceptable. I can go on and on with the list.”

•Photo shows Governor Abdullaziz Yari of Zamfara State.