Resolving Nigeria’s Health Care Quandary, By Obikili Chinedu Gee
Premium Times October 21, 2018 Resolving Nigeria’s Health Care Quandary, By Obikili Chinedu Gee2018-10-21T14:27:04+00:00Opinion Comment (1)  The solution starts with the setting up of public-private partnerships (PPP), having the tertiary hospitals being handed over to private organisations and people to run, not necessarily on a permanent basis, but on pre-agreed terms – perhaps for like 20 years. A pilot of such programme was carried out by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration… A lot is being said about the health sector in Nigeria and what needs to be done. There seems to be an obsession with increasing the budget for every sector as a solution to its problems but quite often that is not the way to go.
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By Dr. Okeme Arome
The deteriorating state of healthcare in Nigeria is alarming! It is a time bomb. We sit on a barrel of gunpowder and what's more, we are smoking our cigars nonchalantly and relishing in our sybaritism as though everything was fine. There was not as much as a foot space in most of the tertiary hospitals in Kaduna to receive a referred patient on the morning of 8th of October. The sight of the accident and emergency ward in Barau dikko almost brought tears to my eyes. The irreconcilable prodigious number of patients against the overstretched few number of health workers was a depressing sight. If Lizzy had come here alone, I bet at this sight she would have made back for the village, she would rather face her fate than have it brought closer to her by this despondent sight. We left for 44, Nigerian Defence Academy hospital.
Elizabeth is 25, an orphan whose parents passed away some 5years ago leaving her with four younger ones who depend on her for their livelihood as a newborn would his mother's breast.
Two weeks back, she was brought to the facility from one of the rural areas in Kaduna state with complains of difficulty in breathing, cough, dizziness and abdominal pain. Exam showed she was pale, fast breathing, generalized lymph node swelling, high fever persistently; had a massive spleen of about 20cm from the left costal border By Dr. Okeme Arome.
The political atmosphere in Nigeria ahead of 2019 general elections is increasingly becoming dense and tense with the various intrigues, political maneuvers, mathematics, betrayals, dissolution of weak static bonds with previous allies and the formation of perceived covalent bonds with formidable political gladiators and influential parties to create alliances aimed at achieving set goals and agenda that, more often than not, are self-indulging, rather than people oriented or altruistic. One very important arm of government of the Federalism that Nigeria is made to believe it is practicing is the legislature, the others being executive and judiciary, where one is meant to checkmate the activities of the others. The legislative arm boasts of being the most vocal, or so it should be, of the tripod of government. Legislators are elected by their constituents to “deputize” and create for them a sense of national worth by the instrumentality of their deliberations. The National theatre of action of the legislature, the chamber or assembly, is often comprised of a motley of culture and tribes; religion and beliefs; creed and color thereby arguably making it a true microcosm of the nation. Their duties include, but not limited to, creating policies, budgets and programs; participating in debates on proposed legislation; seeking funding for their districts; negotiating with other lawmakers to gain consensus and move legislation forward ; making public appearances, presentations and speeches. |
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