Nigeria at 54: Time to Stop this Epidemic By Ben Edokpayi Leaving Nigeria for the USA in 1989 was one of the toughest decisions I had to make. I had a great career at Newswatch; hobnobbing with glitterati, and traveling around the world on James Bond-type assignments for a news journal that was ahead of its time. But there were some trajectories that just churned my stomach; the brown-envelope syndrome and an epileptic healthcare delivery system that led to the untimely death of my sister in 1989 through medical malpractice (she died of anesthesia overdose by a doctor fresh out of medical school.) And so like Enebeli Elebuwa’s fictional “Andrew” character I checked out courtesy of a United States Information Service (USIS) enabled-trip that was to foster coverage of America through the lens of an independent Nigerian journalist. Brain drain was the tag then for this mass exodus of Nigerian professionals; which included my late Aunt (Mrs Ekaette Ette, mother of Sadie Ette, a 9/11 victim) and two brother-in-law physicians (Professor’s Andrew Asindi and John Chukwudi Odita), who took their medical expertise to the Middle East. So if I had three “Andrews” just within my family circle you can imagine how many more Nigerian families had to experience separation angst because of an epileptic system. Almost 25 years later not much has changed; corruption is still rife, our mindset is somewhat anachronistic, we revel in character assassination and setup schemes of the crudest order, power supply is still in fits and starts, brown envelope and unethical journalism has now become state-of-the-art resulting in rot and unaccountability, and healthcare delivery is still a headache. But those of us in the Diaspora (including the Sacramento Association of Nigerians where I was the publicist until last year) still hold out hope for this great country especially with democracy now entrenched. Which is why I have endeavored to stay in touch with my roots by coming home almost every other year in the last 10 years. It is a unique blessing to call two great countries, with similar growing pains, home. One of them, 238 years removed from its independence has overcome its growing pains, forged ahead despite great difficulties including a bloody civil war, to become the greatest and most advanced country in the world. The other, 54 years away from its independence, and also with a bloody civil war in its past, is still in the early hours of its full bloom; an unrealized potential that has been a constant spur for my many transatlantic ventures. In my latest trip home I have eclipsed my average stay of a month and I am now entering my tenth month. In this latest odyssey I have experienced several ups and downs, been ‘stabbed in the back so many times’, led astray by some I trust, but the hope still persists that there are areas in this developmental phase of Nigeria that one can contribute to, despite the odds and naysayers. Interestingly, barely three weeks into my latest trip I became privy to a traumatic situation not for the faint of heart. It involved a young man who suffered a ruptured spleen, broken leg and severe cuts and internal bleeding following an accident in Akwa Ibom state. On the day of the accident doctors at the teaching hospital where he was first taken to were on strike, prompting a desperate race against time by family members to find a doctor who could save his life. When the family finally located a hospital with a doctor on duty the story got worse. After evaluating the patient, the doctor took off returning four hours later only to sign off on the patient because he could not treat him. It was only the intervention of a kind-hearted physician that led this man’s family to another doctor who was willing to see the critically injured man, based on an initial deposit of 600,000 naira (approximately $3500) as emergency fee. I wouldn’t be surprised too if the man’s family had to go scrambling around town looking for prescribed medications (like I recently had to do after a minor car mishap resulted in a fracture of the 5th metartasal in my right foot) because many hospitals function with deficient pharmacies. Attention received during the first hour for trauma patients is very crucial, a fact that was emphasized by Ola Orekunrin a trauma doctor and the managing director of Flying Doctors Nigeria, an air ambulance service, in a recent piece for the International New York Times. According to her, “Trauma has become a silent epidemic in Africa, an epidemic that will only spread as the economy grows. More and more Africans are buying cars and working in heavy and dangerous industries. At the same time, infrastructure is poor, safety laws lax, and cars badly maintained.” The good news is that the man involved in the Akwa Ibom accident eventually survived. But the big question is how many have died in accidents on Nigerian roads due to what Orekunrin terms “Africa’s trauma epidemic”? An epidemic that is worsened because of a lack of “organized trauma response system and no formal training for paramedics.” And I must add poorly maintained roads which are a leading cause of road accidents in Nigeria. Having completed a comprehensive medical checkup before my trip at Kaiser Permanente, the largest managed health care organization in the United States (like I always do before each trip) one has no health worries except for the unforeseen such as accidents. In her piece for the New York Times, Orekunrin cites a World Bank study that predicts that in the next two years, road accidents could be the biggest killer of African children between 5 and 15. Another report by Global Burden of Disease study, projects that “road accidents will be the fifth leading cause of death in the developing world.” When looking at the dire state of Nigeria’s healthcare delivery system, one cannot help but frame this discussion against the backdrop of health care practices in other parts of the world. There is certainly no basis for comparison between Nigeria’s healthcare system and practices in developed countries like the USA, UK or Australia. Still, some fundamental issues need to be addressed to save lives, improve the dismal life expectancy rate which is currently at 52 years, and make it easier for citizens to get the care they need and stop the annual junket to places like India for medical treatment. According to the Business Day newspaper 47 percent of Nigerians who visited India in 2012, did so for medical reasons spending N41.6 billion ($260 million) in the process. The recent passage of the National Health Bill by the Nigerian Senate is encouraging and a crucial first step toward a comprehensive healthcare delivery system. The establishment of well-equipped trauma centers like the one being built in Ondo State should be made a priority in the new health bill especially on a regional level, beginning with the location of a well-equipped trauma center at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital which has borne the brunt of casualties in the recent spate of terrorist attacks in North east Nigeria. Ben Edokpayi, a Journalist and Strategic Communications Consultant, is a Nigerian-American. He can be reached at benedo1218@yahoo In the pictures left to right: Your’s truly with Chuks Illoegbunam, a former colleague of mine at Newswatch Magazine who is now with the Presidency first day of school in Vacaville for our younger son a few years ago, and last year’s swearing in ceremony in Sacramento for Judge Bunmi Awoniyi, a SAN member, who is the first African-American woman of Nigerian descent to be appointed a judge in California.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 18:11:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015