The Nigerian opposition coalition, CUPP, after reviewing the plan to
\nimport Chinese doctors by the President Muhammadu Buhari led government
\nfor no defined reasons and after consultation with the Nigeria Medical
\nAssociation and reviewing their experts views is of the informed opinion
\nthat the move is unnecessary, in bad faith and a direct expression of
\nloss of confidence on Nigerian doctors and other frontline medical
\nhealth workers who have risked their lives daily despite the huge
\nconstraints and inadequacies they face to do a marvellous job of
\ntreating patients of the deadly virus with a very good success rate.<\/p>\n
Rather than import Chinese doctors into the country, the government
\ncould have shown support to the Nigerian doctors by providing adequate
\nand sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) for them to ensure
\nthey are safe while doing their job. There are reports of Doctors and
\nother health workers in the University of Benin Teaching Hospital,
\nUniversity of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, University of Ibadan Teaching
\nHospital, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital and the Obafemi Awoloowo
\nUniversity Teaching Hospital to mention but a few already dangerously
\nexposed to patients who have tested positive for the COVID-19.<\/p>\n
We ask the Presidency, why did the government not work with our Nigeria
\nMedical and Dental Council in line with the provisions of the law before
\ncoming to the ill-timed decision to import Chinese doctors?<\/p>\n
The Nigeria Dental and Medical Council Act provides that the council
\nmust be made aware and grant approvals before such steps are taken by
\ngovernment to bring\u00a0 in foreign medical doctors into the country to see
\nNigerian patients. We stand with the\u00a0 Nigerian Medical Association that
\nhas rejected this move and indeed all Nigerians should reject the move
\nNOW.<\/p>\n
The arrival of Chinese doctors in Italy unfortunately coincided with the
\nspike in the contracting and death rate in that country which made it to
\nsoon be the country with the most deaths. It could be a mere
\ncoincidence, but since the spike, what have these Chinese doctors done
\nto improve situations in Italy with the thousands of deaths that have
\noccurred since then.<\/p>\n
Are the Chinese doctors going to come to help us ramp up our recovery
\nrate which is very high at the moment or are they coming to know why we
\nare not dying like chickens like it is happening in the United States,
\nSpain, Italy, France etc? What will be their true mission? Who has run
\nreal background checks on these doctors to ascertain their latent
\nintention? The pandemic is still killing people in China. They are still
\ngrappling with it. Where were these Chinese doctors when thousands of
\ntheir citizens died from the virus? Are the agents of the communist
\nparty on a mission different from what they present? Must the Federal
\nGovernment continue with actions that daily mortgages our country the
\nmore?<\/p>\n
Is the timing of this coming of the Chinese doctors at this point in
\ntime not very suspicious? Will these doctors not infiltrate our system
\nand conduct unknown clinical trials on patients? The unanswered
\nquestions are legion.<\/p>\n
Everything about this importation or invitation of Chinese doctors by
\nthe Presidency is totally rejected as it is very dangerous, in violation
\nof the laws, a distraction form the good work being done so far and a
\nmisplacement of priority capable of turning the table against Nigeria.
\nGovernment must not at such a time express loss of confidence on its
\nmedical workers who are without relevant protection and are grossly
\nunderpaid yet doing marvellously well in a situation which has received
\ninternational acclaim.<\/p>\n
The Nigeria Medical Association did not ask for the help neither are we
\naware that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control made a request for the
\nChinese Doctors. The Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease
\nControl did not also claim that he did not get adequate experience from
\nhis recent visit to China.<\/p>\n
If the President had shut our air and land border on time, the Italian
\nand other index cases would not have landed. Or if the President
\nenforced mandatory 14 days quarantine for all passengers from high risk
\ncountries, the cases of community transmission being currently witnessed
\nnow would not be the case. The self-isolation policy employed by
\ngovernment was weak, unserious and lack of concern for the health of
\nNigerians. The President has since run under his bed for fear of
\ncontracting the disease. The President loves power and not the
\nresponsibility that comes with holding power.<\/p>\n
Please keep the Chinese doctors away from us and support our health
\nworkers with equipment, test kit, contact tracing logistics and
\nsustainable hunger fighting palliative and not the share-to-a-few joke
\ncalled social intervention palliative by the Minister of Humanitarian
\nAffairs Disaster Management and Social Development. Let the world hear
\nus clearly, Nigerians do not need the Chinese doctors\u2019 physical
\npresence. There are technological means like tele-conferencing, skype
\nand all other types of video calls in use in the medical field where
\ndoctors thousands of kilometres away are consulted to review and give
\nexpert advice on patients\u2019 cases. Nigeria must leverage on such
\ntechnology at this time.<\/p>\n
Nigerians will have no options but to hold the President personally
\nresponsible if he forces these Chinese doctors on citizens and the
\nsituation gets worse or there are messy reports about unapproved action
\nby the doctors. The President is the only head of State in the whole
\nworld who has holed up and hidden inside Presidential Villa since the
\nvirus outbreak. He is the only President who is not constantly selling
\nhope and reassurance to citizens and he is the only President in the
\nworld who is not recognizing the near suicidal efforts of their
\ncountry\u2019s health workers to contain this pandemic.<\/p>\n
What incentives has the President provided for our health workers? Has
\nhe even said the words \u201cThank You\u201d to these life savers? Has the
\nPresident called on citizens to appreciate them? Rather he passes a vote
\nof no confidence on them with an ill-timed, thoughtless and morale
\ndampening move to bring in Chinese doctors. If he wants the Chinese
\ndoctors for himself and his family in the Villa like he has always
\nsought foreign medical treatment, that is his problem but for Nigerians,
\nwe are comfortable with the work of Nigerian doctors like we have always
\nbeen and we will resist anyone who wants to ridicule their good works.<\/p>\n
But the Presidency must ensure that when their doctors come for them,
\nthey must be compulsorily isolated for the mandatory 14 days to be sure
\nthey will not carry a different strain of the disease into the country.<\/p>\n
Mr President, every good thing you touch goes bad. Please leave Nigerian
\ndoctors alone to continue their good work.<\/p>\n
Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere<\/p>\n
Opposition Coalition\u00a0 CUPP Spokesperson<\/p>\n
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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n