By Achilleus-Chud Uchegbu<\/p>\n
Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, left Nigeria with harsh words. While the
\nNigerians leadership was still ruminating his unkind words, he returned to
\nthe United states of America to the waiting arms of CNN. He was interviews
\nby David Mckenzie, an international correspondent of CNN. CNN called Gates
\nNigerias silent partner because of his spending $1.6 billion on health
\nconcerns in Nigeria. CNN puts it this way: His money is helping to
\neradicate the scourge of polio in Nigeria. But grinding poverty remains.
\nAnd for many, an absence of political leadership.<\/p>\n
Responding to CNNs question, Gates said: You know, I am saying that the
\ncurrent plan is inadequate Nigeria has all these young people, and the
\ncurrent quality and quantity of investment in this young generation, the
\nhealth and education, just isn’t good enough. And you know, so I was very
\ndirect.<\/p>\n
Gates sees wasted opportunities. He sees a threatened future. But the world
\nsees much more. The world sees Nigeria as a people who are only good at
\nmaking more babies, but not planning for their future. The statistics say
\nso. A 2015 World Bank report indicate that only 29 percent of Nigerians
\nhave access to sanitation. It means that 71 percent others dont have
\naccess to sanitation. The implication of this is high disease rate.
\nSpeedtest Global said internet broadband download speed (megabits per
\nsecond) for Nigeria is at 9.5mps while Singapore ranks first at 153mps
\nmeanwhile the population growth rate for Nigeria is put at 72 percent while
\nGermany at one percent. Many countries are creating wealth using fast
\ninternet systems.<\/p>\n
The World Economic Forum (WEF) ranks Nigeria at 131 on the 2018
\ninfrastructure quality index. On the index of Government Spending
\nEfficiency, 2018, also by the WEF, Nigeria is ranked 120 0f 137 countries
\nindexed while the Public Trust in Politicians, 2018 index ranks Nigeria at
\n130 with Brazil at 137. On the index of Internet access in Schools 2018,
\nthe WEF ranks Nigeria at 120 with Singapore, New Zealand and Sweden ranking
\ntop three. The Innovation Index 2018, also by WEF has Nigeria at 112 of 132
\ncountries indexed. Nigeria is also placed 97 on the Railroad Infrastructure
\nQuality of WEF.<\/p>\n
The sad healthcare situation in Nigeria hits on the face when the World
\nhealth Organization (WHO) index of Psychiatrists per 100,000 people.
\nNigeria is sitting at the bottom of the ladder with 0.1 psychiatrists per
\n100,000 people while Netherlands sits at the top with 20.1 per 100,000
\npeople. World Bank ranks Nigeria at 145 on the Ease of Doing Business, 2018
\nindex while the 2017 Human Development Index of the United Nations has
\nNigeria at 152 with an unemployment rate in Africa of 18.8 percent
\nmeanwhile, we hold 2.6 percent of worlds population. While the monthly
\nminimum wage in Nigeria is N18,000, Albania, one of Europes poorest
\ncountries has a monthly minimum wage of 159 Euro while Luxembourg tops the
\nlist with 1922 Euro.<\/p>\n
With a population which has grown by 72 percent in the past 20 years,
\nNigeria is estimated to have 752million people by 2100 with an average
\nbirth per woman put at five and 89 infant deaths per 1000 live births and
\nyouth unemployment of 33 percent. A military research platform puts
\nNigerias Military aircraft capability per million people at 0. While that
\nof Israel, with a population of 8.547 million, as at 2016, is put at 55.
\nWEF also ranks Nigeria at 79 on the index of Availability of Scientists and
\nEngineers in which 137 countries were polled. That does not look too bad
\nbut the Gold Reserve Index puts indicates that Nigeria has 21 metric tons
\nof gold in reserve while the United States has 8133 and Brazil, 63. And to
\ncap it, Nigeria which used to sit at the apex of World Happiness Report is
\nnow ranked 95 with Norway, Denmark and Iceland occupying the top three
\nspots. Behind this is the WEF report that Nigeria ranks 14, out of 137, on
\nthe most bribes and irregular payments index.<\/p>\n
These are the indices that Bill Gates saw. These are also the indicators
\nthat many investors see of Nigeria and which inform their investment
\ndecisions. As Nigerians, we dont only see these, we live with them and we
\nfeel their pains. However, these handicaps present investment opportunities
\nin solution-driven options. But government policy, on the other hand, does
\nnot seem to support this. The policy direction of Nigerias government
\nhelps in national planning. But from the office of Budget and National
\nPlanning, there is a glaring disconnect with the government policy drivers.
\nThis may be reason it is often difficult for government to build its budget
\naround intangible deliverables that could transform society. For instance,
\nit is difficult to see the physical effect of investment in healthcare as
\nagainst building railway lines and bridges and roads.<\/p>\n
The reality of Nigerias situation comes back real when the recent
\nexperience of Emevo Biakolo, a Professor of Communication at School of
\nMedia and Communication, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos is taken into
\ncontext. Prof. Biakolo shared his experiences in an update on his facebook
\npage titled We Must Fix The Broken Health System, thus: Late last week,
\nI returned from New Delhi, India, where I had gone for a surgery. Why did
\nI, like so many of my country men and women, go to India? Here is why. In
\nSeptember 2017, some six months ago, my spouse underwent surgery at a
\nprivate hospital, the Lagoon Hospital (which my family has used for over 10
\nyears) in Lagos. In accordance with proper medical practice, given the
\nnature of the problem, a post-surgery histology and immunochemistry (lab
\ntests to determine if the organs had cancer) was recommended. I agreed and
\npaid for it. It took THREE MONTHS for the reports of this test to be
\nreleased by this hospital. This was after repeated inquiries by personal
\nvisits, by phone calls and text messages. The surgeon stopped picking my
\ncalls. When the report eventually came and we had a meeting on it, I asked
\nwhy it took this long for the report to come. The explanation was that this
\nhospital, like others, sends samples abroad because there are no adequate
\nlabs in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
He also wrote: In spite of what happened, at this same hospital, I had a
\nbiopsy (a procedure to extract samples for lab tests) done on an inflamed
\nprostate. A biopsy is an outpatient procedure of less than an hour. But
\nafter the procedure, I was put in an ICU (intensive care unit) room for the
\nrequired brief recovery period. This turned out to be nightmare. I was in a
\npool of blood both on the bed and in the unhygienic toilet close by. There
\nwas no nurse or attendant to take care of me. In my dazed state, I stumbled
\nout to look for toilet paper to clean myself. To cut a long story short, I
\neventually left the hospital for home. But worse was to follow because not
\nunsurprisingly, given the ICU experience, infection had occurred, an
\ninfection so massive I had to be hospitalized for five days. I returned
\nhome on the eve of Christmas.<\/p>\n
Given the nature of what I was experiencing as a result of my condition, I
\nwas advised to do a bone scan. I therefore travelled to Ibadan, early this
\nyear, to the University College Hospital, to do this. I duly paid N72k to
\nthe Nuclear Medicine unit. But as I write, this scan has still not been
\ndone. The reason: there are no reagents. All this was why, contrary to my
\nusual nave nationalism, I left Nigeria with the help of my workplace, my
\nchildren and my friends to do a surgery in India.<\/p>\n
He caps his update with this: Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals (New Delhi)
\nwhere I had surgery on 12 March has 750 beds for in-patients. It performs
\non average 80 surgeries daily. The outpatient figures run into 1000+ daily.
\nIt is a private hospital system with branches all over India.<\/p>\n
Prof. Biakolo has told his story. There are many more Nigerians who have
\nworse stories to tell about the healthcare system here. These, account for
\nreason Bill Gates was unrestrained in his criticism of Nigerias economic
\nrecovery plans. However, he said nothing we did not know about our country.
\nThe only difference was that it was said, this time, by a white man. But
\nthe statistics up here shows that the world knows much more about us and
\nthat is why they laugh at our ERGP and wont bother investing too much here
\ndespite being a very large market.<\/p>\n
______________________________
\n*Achilleus-Chud Uchegbu |Editor, The Union Newspapers |No. 65, Oduduwa Way,
\nGRA, Ikeja, Lagos | 234-8023030366, 09092007000
\n|http:\/\/achilleusuchegbu.
\n<http:\/\/achilleusuchegbu.