The Nigerian opposition coalition, CUPP, after reviewing the plan to
import Chinese doctors by the President Muhammadu Buhari led government
for no defined reasons and after consultation with the Nigeria Medical
Association and reviewing their experts views is of the informed opinion
that the move is unnecessary, in bad faith and a direct expression of
loss of confidence on Nigerian doctors and other frontline medical
health workers who have risked their lives daily despite the huge
constraints and inadequacies they face to do a marvellous job of
treating patients of the deadly virus with a very good success rate.
Rather than import Chinese doctors into the country, the government
could have shown support to the Nigerian doctors by providing adequate
and sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) for them to ensure
they are safe while doing their job. There are reports of Doctors and
other health workers in the University of Benin Teaching Hospital,
University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, University of Ibadan Teaching
Hospital, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital and the Obafemi Awoloowo
University Teaching Hospital to mention but a few already dangerously
exposed to patients who have tested positive for the COVID-19.
We ask the Presidency, why did the government not work with our Nigeria
Medical and Dental Council in line with the provisions of the law before
coming to the ill-timed decision to import Chinese doctors?
The Nigeria Dental and Medical Council Act provides that the council
must be made aware and grant approvals before such steps are taken by
government to bring in foreign medical doctors into the country to see
Nigerian patients. We stand with the Nigerian Medical Association that
has rejected this move and indeed all Nigerians should reject the move
NOW.
The arrival of Chinese doctors in Italy unfortunately coincided with the
spike in the contracting and death rate in that country which made it to
soon be the country with the most deaths. It could be a mere
coincidence, but since the spike, what have these Chinese doctors done
to improve situations in Italy with the thousands of deaths that have
occurred since then.
Are the Chinese doctors going to come to help us ramp up our recovery
rate which is very high at the moment or are they coming to know why we
are not dying like chickens like it is happening in the United States,
Spain, Italy, France etc? What will be their true mission? Who has run
real background checks on these doctors to ascertain their latent
intention? The pandemic is still killing people in China. They are still
grappling with it. Where were these Chinese doctors when thousands of
their citizens died from the virus? Are the agents of the communist
party on a mission different from what they present? Must the Federal
Government continue with actions that daily mortgages our country the
more?
Is the timing of this coming of the Chinese doctors at this point in
time not very suspicious? Will these doctors not infiltrate our system
and conduct unknown clinical trials on patients? The unanswered
questions are legion.
Everything about this importation or invitation of Chinese doctors by
the Presidency is totally rejected as it is very dangerous, in violation
of the laws, a distraction form the good work being done so far and a
misplacement of priority capable of turning the table against Nigeria.
Government must not at such a time express loss of confidence on its
medical workers who are without relevant protection and are grossly
underpaid yet doing marvellously well in a situation which has received
international acclaim.
The Nigeria Medical Association did not ask for the help neither are we
aware that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control made a request for the
Chinese Doctors. The Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease
Control did not also claim that he did not get adequate experience from
his recent visit to China.
If the President had shut our air and land border on time, the Italian
and other index cases would not have landed. Or if the President
enforced mandatory 14 days quarantine for all passengers from high risk
countries, the cases of community transmission being currently witnessed
now would not be the case. The self-isolation policy employed by
government was weak, unserious and lack of concern for the health of
Nigerians. The President has since run under his bed for fear of
contracting the disease. The President loves power and not the
responsibility that comes with holding power.
Please keep the Chinese doctors away from us and support our health
workers with equipment, test kit, contact tracing logistics and
sustainable hunger fighting palliative and not the share-to-a-few joke
called social intervention palliative by the Minister of Humanitarian
Affairs Disaster Management and Social Development. Let the world hear
us clearly, Nigerians do not need the Chinese doctors’ physical
presence. There are technological means like tele-conferencing, skype
and all other types of video calls in use in the medical field where
doctors thousands of kilometres away are consulted to review and give
expert advice on patients’ cases. Nigeria must leverage on such
technology at this time.
Nigerians will have no options but to hold the President personally
responsible if he forces these Chinese doctors on citizens and the
situation gets worse or there are messy reports about unapproved action
by the doctors. The President is the only head of State in the whole
world who has holed up and hidden inside Presidential Villa since the
virus outbreak. He is the only President who is not constantly selling
hope and reassurance to citizens and he is the only President in the
world who is not recognizing the near suicidal efforts of their
country’s health workers to contain this pandemic.
What incentives has the President provided for our health workers? Has
he even said the words “Thank You” to these life savers? Has the
President called on citizens to appreciate them? Rather he passes a vote
of no confidence on them with an ill-timed, thoughtless and morale
dampening move to bring in Chinese doctors. If he wants the Chinese
doctors for himself and his family in the Villa like he has always
sought foreign medical treatment, that is his problem but for Nigerians,
we are comfortable with the work of Nigerian doctors like we have always
been and we will resist anyone who wants to ridicule their good works.
But the Presidency must ensure that when their doctors come for them,
they must be compulsorily isolated for the mandatory 14 days to be sure
they will not carry a different strain of the disease into the country.
Mr President, every good thing you touch goes bad. Please leave Nigerian
doctors alone to continue their good work.
Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere
Opposition Coalition CUPP Spokesperson