The Head of MEDUSA
The beginning of this month of August was a very prayerful one for
many a Nigerian student, at least those who believed that even God can
mediate between ASUU and our (...) federal government. ASUU, we had
heard was set to embark on yet another strike; while the memory of
last year's six-month postponement of the destinies of millions of
(the poor man's) children is yet hard to forget! Except it was not
felt by any of the people that matter, since their own children are in
the recently popularised, yet thoroughfare-resistant, "other climes"
that the average Nigerian cannot visit or school his seed in.
ASUU is however not the villain of this tale; after all, we all
protest in our own ways. From the neonate that would not quiet until
fed or rocked, to the child that would either go out with his mother
or be pacified with a token, to the adolescent that grumbles away his
reticence or unbelief, to the wife that will not yield in that
precious moment of the night, to the husband that threatens to not pay
the lazy or ill-performing child's fees come next term; we all protest
in our own little ways. Always. And we deserve to. All of us. All.
Now factor in a government that is only responsive to force: strike
and violence, as against protests (that are quickly disbanded by the
police or the army, or usurped by some sponsored heads), roundtable
discussions (that head nowhere more often than not) and agreements
(that are not fulfilled in specified time, unless of course force
smells). A government that cannot find its own money, or America's,
since the money is even in Dollars. A government that believes it is
our turn for insurgent terrorism, and can pay one billion naira for
violence but not for healthcare or education or youth empowerment.
So that from teachers to court clerks, and from the polytechnic to the
university, we have all been to the renowned land of downed tools. And
are always keeping that option both in mind and in sight; every one of
us, even NUPENG and PENGASSAN, ASUU, NASU, SSANU, and ASUP, and who
else? And particularly the NLC- until January 2012 became June 1815:
Waterloo. But now that Doctors have finally exhausted the bridge of
patience and set foot on that popular land everyone else visits more
often than they dare care to admit, the former must be shouted down,
loathed, and sacked. Are they slaves?
Like the rest of us, the Doctor wants his pay revised as they often do
who often fatten off the rest of us in the name of governance, and
often so. The Doctor wants his efforts to be appreciated, like he does
who shares national honours around so he may (be able to) dance
himself to his demise as they praise him who have dug a pit in his
path and concealed it with mattings. The Doctor wants his workplace to
be safe, conducive and healthily comparable to what is obtainable in
"other climes", and wants modernisation to aid his speed and accuracy,
and lessen his trouble. Can one truthfully say he has asked for too
much?
But all the Doctor gets are accusations: He likes money too much. Yet
everyone hikes their prices whenever the buyer is a Doctor. He is
proud. Yet we all want our children to be proud Doctors we can take
pride in. He is selfish, is not considerate, and does not want others
to reach "the peak of their careers". Yet he donates monies for his
indigent patients, and prescribes the cheapest drugs out of
consideration for their pockets, and does those over-the-phone and
on-the-corridor consultations his defamers so love for free.
And as if their height of hypocrisy is that of the Buhj Al-Arab, it is
said that he diverts patients. Yet, the nurse runs her own clinic, the
pharmacist has a clinic behind his shop, as the others also do whom I
must not mention lest they have my head- diabolically. Why then is it
that only the Doctor (is said to) divert patients? Could it be a ploy
to shut him down seeing as he is the only one legally authorised to
open clinics and hospitals? Or... Do the proprietors of private
schools and universities also divert students? Do operators of public
transport in Lagos State likewise divert passengers from the BRT?
Ironically, none of these people illegally setting up clinics will
allow the Doctor to encroach on their territory!
Matters arising...
Doctors went on strike to protest salary irregularities, hazard
pittance in the name of allowance, and encroachment by those I again
must not mention. (Mo sá fún-un yín tó o!) Who wouldn't have? Is 5 000
naira per month incentive enough to confront Ebola in all its
incurability? SEE, The Eyes of MEDUSA; link below.
Abegi, forget nano-urànkàn; nano-something. And the government after
cajoling them (with partial agreements) and blackmailing them (with
unsolicited announcement of the end of their strike) has finally
'terminated' the appointments of a great percentage of them, some 16
000, because they fail to yield to cajoling, blackmail and temporary
agreements. Would you? from these our (...) government? Na today?
Still, the NMA is fighting for a healthcare system that works, that
our politicians will be proud of enough to quit spending our money on
medical tourism in "other climes", that will be able to save every
life that can be saved anywhere else, even US, UK, India, South
Africa. The NMA is fighting the proliferation of death centres in the
name of cheap alternatives to hospitals. Despite the shortcomings, and
outright failings in playing the victim-politics and winning public
sympathies as good as her detractors are, the NMA is working to
preserve lives resident in Nigeria, including their own, by attending
to the casualties of bomb blasts and contributing to the fight against
Ebola, despite the ongoing strike. The NMA is fighting for us!
For instance...
A standard Ebola reference centre should have at least 4 select buildings:
1. The Ebola ward for confirmed patients.
2. A well-equipped (and comfortable) quarantine area or building for
those with symptoms similar to Ebola or those who have had close
contact with a confirmed case.
3. A well-equipped residential area for healthcare personnel on an
"Ebola posting". At close of work the doctors et al treating Ebola
patients do not go home to further endanger their families; they must
reside in the on-site exclusive residential area.
4. A logistics centre where rapid diagnostic and other routine tests
for suspects and cases are carried out and the results analysed and
correlated.
This Ebola posting should not exceed three to four weeks per set of
healthcare personnel to limit the chances of them getting sloppy. And
following this posting they are screened and returned to the general
circulation (only) if negative.
Have it any other way and one may as well change the hospital to a
(warm) morgue and the healthcare workers to mortuary attendants. So
this business of various health ministries naming any hospitals with a
gate as Ebola centres is a cruel joke at best, and an invitation to a
suicide mission and open epidemic at worst.
And this is why the NMA will not be part of such: To protect the
general population, to protect their own families, to protect
themselves. No one wants to die. No one, the Doctor inclusive. SEE,
Ebola and the GORGONS; link below.
Yet...
So far, the best the average Nigerian sees fit to do is applaud the
opposition and rally round the government as they put us Doctors to
the guillotine and decimate us. The average Nigerian would rather wait
till Health had become like Education with massive failures, or
Justice with unbelievable injustice, or Transportation with alarming
incompetence! The average Nigerian would rather the Doctor were dead
and buried, and the para-Doctor came to treat (and be treated to) his
pocket, and not his health.
Well, Nigeria will get all that and more; if we continue the way we
are headed. A people deserve the leadership it gets, for, as was
observed centuries ago, "when Allah wants to deal kindly with a
nation, he entrusts its reins in the hands of wise men and gives
wealth to its generous people; and when he wants to deal with a nation
harshly, he entrusts its control in the hands of foolish people, and
gives wealth to its miserly men." (Abu Daud)
But there is yet time for a rethink. For everyone that was delivered
by a Doctor, saved by his skills, or/and revived by his tenacity to
join hands with him and protest the illegality of the loss of his
status and his job, to stand by him and stare down our nonexistence of
a government, to rally round him as he defies our nonentities in
Abuja. There is yet time to put the past behind us and forge ahead,
together, into a planned, pleasant and profitably secure future. There
is yet time to make our home, our own, just as good as, and I dare say
better than, those "other climes".
Yes, there is yet time; because the next time, e fit be you o.
Ayokunle Ayk Fowosire,
Sagamu.
Whatsapp: +2348068619636.
January 16, 2012, 03:20:33 AM