By SKC Ogbonnia
\nMarch 25, 2020<\/p>\n
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), which has compelled people
\nto stay within their localities, illuminates the genius of the ageless
\nadage: charity begins at home. It has exposed the malignant ignorance
\nwithin Nigerian leaders who prefer foreign medical treatment while
\nneglecting the amenities at home. The COVID-19 has profoundly exposed
\nthe nature and scope of the Nigerian healthcare crisis. Yet, every cloud
\nhas a silver lining!<\/p>\n
The recent coronavirus controversy in Enugu is a perplexing preface. A
\n70-year old woman was suspected to be carrying the virus. But there is
\nno laboratory capable of administering the COVID-19 test in the entire
\nEastern Region. Thus, it took several days before the test result could
\narrive from faraway Irrua in Edo State. Though the result returned
\nnegative, the woman had already died while isolated in a squalor at a
\ngrungy ESUT Teaching Hospital complex. The irony is that this incident
\ntook place in Enugu\u2014of all places, the Igbo flagship metropolis that has
\nno excuse to lag in development, having served as the capital of Eastern
\nRegion, capital of Biafra, capital of East Central State, capital of the
\nold Anambra State; and currently the capital of Enugu State. This
\npredicament only goes to ridicule the faculty of the globally renowned
\nIgbo intelligentsia that parades Enugu as its sanctum.<\/p>\n
The most mind-boggling yet is the situation in Northern Nigeria. Though
\nthe North is the perennial epicenter of the national healthcare crisis,
\nit never dawned on the politicians to establish standard laboratories
\nfor testing a disease like Coronavirus in the entire region, besides an
\noutfit at the nation’s capital, Abuja. To test for the virus. those in
\nSokoto will have to travel over 650 km while those in Maiduguri must
\ncommit 845 kilometers before reaching Abuja. One can only wonder the
\nwisdom of the Northern leaders, widely celebrated for strategic vision
\nin gaining power, but who continually fail to maximize such power
\ntowards the common good of their people.<\/p>\n
In a 2015 essay, “Every Nigerian Blood Is On The Line”, I drew attention
\nto the ignorance of Nigerian leaders, who tend to forget that good
\nleadership is vitally important to both the led and the leader. I
\nenumerated the embarrassing cases of highly placed politicians from the
\nimmediate past administration who lost their close relatives because
\nthey failed to provide good amenities in the local communities, such as
\nPresident Goodluck Jonathan, Dame Patience Jonathan, Namadi Sambo, David
\nMark, and Ike Ekweremadu, among others.<\/p>\n
Also remember the strong man of Ibadan politics, Lamidi Adedibu, who
\ndied on his way to procure traveling documents towards a foreign medical
\ntrip. Equally relative is the case of Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and Alex
\nEkwueme. These two prominent men suffered stroke in the same Enugu at
\ndifferent times but had to allow a few weeks to stabilize before
\nembarking on foreign treatment. Before they could reach their British
\ndestinations, their situations worsened. Neither Ojukwu nor Ekwueme made
\nit back home alive. Needless to mention sitting Head of State Sani
\nAbacha and President Umar Yar’Adua, who died at the Aso Villa, under
\nquestionable health conditions.<\/p>\n
The crisis conundrum is that the current leaders still do not seem to
\nget it. Nigeria’s top office holders, including President Buhari,
\nembrace foreign medical treatment as a second nature. But that was
\nthen\u2014definitively then!<\/p>\n
The point, if it is not already apparent, is that coronavirus has
\nemerged as a quintessential equalizer. It has provoked a national
\nconsciousness and common sense, by consequence. The pandemic has made it
\nimperative that people, both rich and poor, must seek prevention or
\ntreatment in their immediate environment. The elites may be accorded the
\nusual preferential treatment, quite alright, but any attempt to ignore
\nthe masses, as in the past, is a poisoned chalice.<\/p>\n
The foregoing thesis becomes more compelling, when considered that the
\nthreat of the COVID-19 in Nigeria is real. Though there are only 44
\nconfirmed cases as at the time of this essay, the low number simply
\nsignifies lack of adequate testing centers. A forewarning is that out of
\nthose 44 cases, 35 were in the Western Region, being the cluster where 4
\nout of the 5 testing laboratories in the country are located. It is also
\nnot a coincidence that both the East and the Far-North are yet to record
\nany case. Their common denominator is plainly the absence of testing
\ncenters in those zones. Moreover, testing for the COVID-19, for now,
\nremains an elitist agenda. But the truth remains that every Nigerian
\nlife is on the line.<\/p>\n
A dream cure, therefore, is a revolutionary approach that can
\nsufficiently address the Nigerian short and long-term healthcare needs.
\nBesides any mitigation measures or cure for the COVID-19, Nigeria must,
\nwithout any delay, equip and modernize to international standards eight
\nexisting university teaching hospitals. While six of such hospitals
\nshould be spread in the six political zones, the remaining two would be
\nallocated to Abuja and Lagos. This revolutionary plan is well studied,
\nand the goal is twofold: First, it will significantly improve the
\nnational healthcare delivery for the ordinary Nigerian people. Second,
\nit will be able to treat the Nigerian leaders and stem the shameless
\npattern of medical tourism in foreign lands.<\/p>\n
Establishing eight world-class hospital\u2014within one year\u2014is not rocket
\nscience. The sources for the financial and the human resources are
\nequally well studied. The budget for the hospitals is $8 billion. The
\nmost cost-efficient is direct funding through crude oil, its hazy market
\nand politics notwithstanding. A plain source is to plug out $12 billion
\nfrom the now suspended 2016-2018 External Borrowing of $22.7 billion
\nproposed by President Buhari. While $8 billion goes for the hospitals,
\nthe remaining $4 billion will be dedicated to mitigating the coronavirus
\npandemic. Phase II will target the state capitals and so on…<\/p>\n
The dream cure is neither politics nor business as usual. It should be
\nexecuted by a Healthcare Revolutionary Council (HRC) that can include
\nthese notable patriots: Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Omoyele Sowore,
\nAkinwumi Adesina, Adeleke Mamora, Femi Falana, Bartholomew Nnaji, Ngozi
\nIweala, Oby Ezekwesiri, Ogbonnaya Onu, Kanayo Ubesie, Donald Duke, Pat
\nUtomi, Ben Murray-Bruce, Festus Keyamo, Muhammadu Sanusi II, Nasir
\nel-Rufai, Obadiah Mailafia, Nuhu Ribadu, Aisha Buhari, Shehu Sani,
\nMathew Kukah, Khadija Bukar Abba Ibrahim, Hameed Ali, Yakubu Dogara,
\nAisha Al-Hassan, Audu Ogbe, Iorwuese Hagher, Natasha Akpoti, Yakubu
\nMohammed, and Abubakar Sani Bello.<\/p>\n
SKC Ogbonnia writes from Ugbo, Enugu State, Nigeria
\nTwitter @ SKCOgbonnia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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