A Fatal Misplacement Of Priorities -By Ike Willie-Nwobu

Nigeria is a sponge for bad news. No matter how bad the news that hit the air waves get, Nigeria has a way of soaking it, sucking it in and essentially making it disappear.

When it was reported that Ifunanya Nwangene whose tragic demise was caused by a snakebite passed because there was no prompt treatment, shock rippled through the country. Many lamented the multifaceted failure of Nigeria’s healthcare system.

It doesn’t take clairvoyance to know that there is something critically wrong with Nigeria’s healthcare system. All it takes is the presence of mind to note that many Nigerian public officers resort to foreign hospitals when they have as much as an itch.

A country with its healthcare system in tatters in one where there is no trust even in those who should be its ambassadors.

The bombshell came recently when Muhammad Ali Pate, the Minister for Health revealed that the ministry only got thirty-six Million Naira for capital projects out of the sum of Two Hundred and Fifteen Billion Naira budgeted for the ministry.

While every developed country grows holistically, there is no doubt that there are sectors that should be given more priority than other sectors if an often delicate balance is to be maintained. One of those sectors is the health sector.  The saying typically goes that health is wealth. This saying recognizes that to create wealth one needs to be healthy first. Invariably, Nigeria’s struggling healthcare sector points to the chaotic priorities of a country that is doing all it can not to attend to the health needs of its people.

How can only the paltry sum of thirty-six million naira be released from a total of two hundred and eighteen billion to such a key player in Nigerian life? In a country where quality healthcare remains a pipe dream for many citizens? How is this even justifiable in a country where many die from eminently treatable ailments? It is absolutely shocking that such a figure is even possible.

For many Nigerians, many ailments are effectively a death sentence with emergencies effectively serving as executions.  A snakebite, an auto accident, a difficult pregnancy can quickly deliver the final blow, yet Nigeria reserves scraps for its health sector.

It Is also damning that medical personnel continue to leave the country to pitch their tents in other countries where their welfare is better leaving Nigeria critically short of medical personnel.

The rot In Nigeria’s health sector has a long history and will not be fixed in a day but it is a journey Nigeria must undertake if it hopes to reverse decades of neglect and decay. It will take a lot of political will and crucially, eradication of corruption.

The Nigerian government must be willing to roll out policies to arrest the decline. It is also imperative that corruption is checked and curbed so that funds that should go into strengthening the health sector find their way there.

No country can have a healthy population by relying on medical tourism to other countries. No country can develop when its health sector lies in ruins. The earlier those in position of power come to this realization the better for everyone.

Ike Willie-Nwobu,

Ikewilly9@gmail.com