THURSDAY COLUMN BY SAFIYA ADAMU
yandokye@gmail.com
Each time challenges in the polity rear their heads Nigerians who are in position or should be in position to speak out and help halt the situation go very, very quiet. They simply leave the media space to clowns and mischief-makers who have little or no inkling of what should or should not be. The social media has become a readily available tool in the hands of the monster and avenging angels. And in all one is left so bewildered that intelligence and capability dominate questions on who we are, what are we or what do we want. Unfortunately a lot of times we literally draw blank, and also sometimes deliberately. We applaud the absurd and deride the meritocratic.
The hemorrhaging happening in the health sector right now is being treated with kids gloves by the powers that. The two ministers who should be in charge seem to be as clueless as the word itself. The line minister who is the health minister seems unavoidably absent, while the Labor Minister who happens to be a medical doctor himself is neither empathetic to the plight of the medical personnel nor is he to that of the Nigerian people; he does not care and I’m not sure the Nigerian people care either. But the social media is awash with ethnic and religious bigots who offer nothing but stoke the fire of hate, hate, and hate wanting only to set the country ablaze. They spend their time and data concocting stories and disseminating lies, untruths with not a spare thought for any one or anything.
Some have opined that the “brain drain” could be a good thing for Nigeria if policy makers and executors would see this as an opportunity and leverage it for the better of all. This thought is for the very sane climes where patriotism over rides any individual or personal interests. The world we know is not exactly plain black and white and there are a lot of grey in between and these grey is what we have got to deal with.
‘Brain Drain’ has happened before in this country and obviously it is going to continue with each occurrence being worse than the previous. Medical doctors and other professionals have fled this country before, and they are going to continue to do so because the public who are most affected by their action do not seem to be able to or may be do not want to comprehend what this situation portends for their general well being, and the well being of the children and generations to come.
This inability or refusal to accept, or comprehend situations or issues is also the reason why we do not interrogate matters objectively outside the foggy tainted lenses we choose to wear; we cannot be honest with ourselves enough to elect representatives or leaders with our interest at heart; we cannot be sincere enough to demand accountability from those we have elected to lead or represent us; we deliberately choose to look the other way at obvious and glaring misdemeanors that cause us harm. We are a people ever ready to accept and applaud the obscene and go further on to even want to copy these obscene actions. And you wonder why we are where we are?
The doctors crises have been brewing for a long time, this is a fact we must first accept without prejudice. Both our primary and tertiary healthcare institutions are under equipped, under furnished, and under staffed. The working environment is unappealing; career progression is ridden with questions and puzzles, maintenance of whatever equipment and structure in existence is absent. The leadership of the institutions is just mere reflections of our mainstream leadership at all levels of the society. The leadership does not care and the people do not either.
The social sectors of our economy are not only on decline they are in complete decay. Education and Health are very vital to the development of any society; they provide the building blocks and nurture of any society. So for the government to allow this hemorrhage to happen under its watch says a lot about us as a people. And to have allowed the crises to degenerate to this extent under their watch the Ministers of Health and Labor should resign or the President should replace them.
The two Ministers, that of Health and Labor have proven to be the perfect poster boys for insensitivity and total lack of appreciation of obvious challenges in a sector that is crucial to our survival. We demand they take a bow and step aside.
