EXODUS OF NIGERIA'S MEDICAL DOCTORS: TO WHOM SHALL WE GO?

 EXODUS OF NIGERIA'S MEDICAL DOCTORS: TO WHOM SHALL WE GO?

President Muhammadu Buhari frequent visits to London for medical checks and treatments is a signpost to the world that there is a defect in his country's healthcare system. Since assuming office, Premium Times recently, reported that the country's number one citizen has spent 200 days for treatment outside Nigeria.  If all was well in the Nation's healthcare system, a treatment for only an "ear infection"should not have been enough reason to fly the President out of the country at the expense of the tax payers and at a time the country's economy is bleeding. Even the Aso Rock's Clinic could not cater for the President's health needs over the years. 

One of his predecessors and Katsina kinsman, Late Musa Yara'Adua, also enjoyed medical tourisms very often because of his health defects at the time, before his death. King Fasai Specialist Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was one of his favourites port of call for his medical treatments.

A chieftain of the ruling All Progressive Congress and former Governor of Lagos state, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is currently out of the country for medical tourism. Initially, rumours had it that he was in France. Recently,  a viral photo showed Muhammadu Buhari and Bola Tinubu in London, where the former had visited the latter. Wherever, like Muhammadu Buhari and Bola Tinubu, a lot of Nigeria's politicians and other topshots seek medical tourism abroad. This is an indication that all is not well with the country's healthcare system.

Few weeks ago and until now, resident doctors in the country have been on strike. Under the aegis of National Association of Resident Doctors, the striking doctors are asking for increase in pay allowance, an improved welfare system, among other things. Rather than negotiate with them, they were dragged to court by their employers. It is appalling to note that the Ministers of Health have not showed any serious commitment to negotiate with the physicians on the "Memorandum of Action." The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige, who has been negotiating with the Association on behalf of the Federal Government is yet to be seen as being successful in getting the Doctors back to work. 

"Health" they say; "is wealth." An unhealthy body can neither walk nor work. Anyone who desires wealth must first, be healthy.  With the Medical Doctors on strike, a lot of patients in critical conditions have been left to suffer. Some have even died. If the doctors go by public sympathy and resume at work, will they have equipment to work with at the service of the patients? 

Public hospitals and health care centres within and around the country are ill-equipped.  This is the reason why the topshots seek medical attention and treatment abroad. Besides, the health personnel are poorly paid.  Report has it that a Nigerian Doctor gets 5,000 naira only for hazard allowance, while Senators are paid 1.24 million naira to buy newspapers monthly. Where is the motivation?

Recently, Many Nigerian Doctors stormed the Ladi Kwali Hall of the Sheraton Hotels, Abuja for Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health recruitment exercise. A research by Africa Check showed that at least 12 Doctors leave Nigeria for United Kingdom every week.  There are also those who live, work and are doing well in other countries of the world. For instance,  Dr. Oluyemi Badero who lives and works in New York, was officially named one of the top interventional cardiologists in the United States of America by Castle Connolly Organisation.  There is also one Dr. Bankole Johnson, who is famous across United States of America and Europe as a psychiatrist and physician. This clearly proves that if given the right atmosphere, good working conditions, motivation and sizable pay, Nigerian Medical Doctors can deliver maximum health care to their compatriots at home.

If the exodus of Nigerian Doctors to other countries of the world is allowed to continue, to whom shall the poor man go to seek medical attention? 

JOS MASSACRE: ARE WE A NATION AT WAR?

 JOS MASSACRE: ARE WE A NATION AT WAR?

Even a Nation at war does not experience the kind of massive killings that characterise different parts of our country in past and recent times. The Jos massacre, typify a nation at war.

 Human lives have been reduced to nothingness. There is no sanctity, no substance, no seriousness, attached to human lives anymore. Now, cows are considered more important than humans. They have a place and more places are being advocated for them in the present Nigeria.  What a time to become and live as a cow in Nigeria.

Back to the Jos massacre. We were told that over 35 persons were killed. Many houses were burnt. Several other properties were destroyed. A lot of residents of the area were wounded. Many were left in disabled forms; the type that would make them become incapacitated for life. 

Who were the killers and destroyers? Where did they come from? Where did they return to after the massacre? How did they escape the security personnel & many checkpoints on our roads? Did they fly? Which air route(s) and where were the boarding and alighting points? The killings, destructions and all havocs which we sum up in a word- 'massacre' all happened last Tuesday, at Yelwan zangam village in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau state, Nigeria.

In that village, there is a head. In that Local Government Area, there is a Chairman. In that state, there is a Governor. In that country, there is a President. He is not only a President but the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the country. Who dares attack a land with a living Commander of an Army and leaves unhurt? A Ghanaian, once said that; "Nigeria, is a country, where anything can happen and nothing will happen." Can we falsify that statement?

Weeks earlier, we were told that about twenty-two Muslim faithful were killed on Rukuba road, in the outskirts of Jos, Plateau state. It has been a season of killings and kidnappings in different parts of our country. What really do the killers and kidnappers want?  There were times, abductees were reportedly, killed even after ransom were paid in millions of naira, by their families.

What wrong did we do? Where did we go wrong? To make matters worse, the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces keeps mum. A few times, his media aides release lean statements that neither condemns the killings nor console those left behind to mourn the losses of their loved ones.

The presidency seems to be preoccupied with going after those who criticise the President or speak ill about policies and programme that does not impact any good on the life of the common man. This is a democracy. Even the best leaders of countries in liberalised parts of the world are criticised. Need one think more or less than the poorly performed ones with unpopular policies and programme that count for nothing other than nepotism and undue favouritism to a certain section of the country?

Let it be told to us that this country belong to no one man but all. 

We are not a nation at war. Let there be an end to the killings in Nigeria.

NDA INVASION: WHAT WILL TOMORROW BRING?

 NDA INVASION: WHO KNOWS WHAT TOMORROW WILL BRING?

In the early hours of last Tuesday, we were hit by the news that some suspected armed bandits invaded the Nigeria Defence Academy. While there, two officers were reportedly killed & a major was abducted to only God knows where. What a national disgrace! 

The Nigeria Defence Academy trains officer cadets for commissioning into the three services of Nigerian Armed Forces; the Army, the Navy and the Airforce. If such a security industry could easily be plunged and its officers killed and kidnapped, then no one is safe in this country.l

Yesterday, it were the students in some schools in same Kaduna and other states within the country especially, in the north region. Today, it is the Nigerian Defence Academy. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

This is a pointer to the fact that the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, Muhammadu Buhari, is not doing enough to protect and preserve lives and properties which he did swore with the Holy Koran to do in 2015 and 2019, respectively.

Admitted, security is every body's business. You and I owe ourselves the duty to be security conscious at at all times. We need to be alert always and report suspicious persons and activities to security agencies and personnel. This we do! Truth is, it is either our security apparatuses are weak and not capable of wrestling our common enemies - Armed robbers, bandits, Boko Haram, herdsmen, name them or there is an unwillingness on the part of our officers to combat them.

Being that men of our Armed forces have also been victims of the insecurity in the land, one may be quick to pick the former, rather than the latter to be the major reason of the security lapse in our country. 

Our men of the Armed Forces should be adequately empowered and equipped with the needed weapons to combat every form of terror and terrorists that have maimed, kidnapped and killed innocent citizens in our land.

Again, let us not take lightly, the words of Commodore Kunle Olawunmi who spoke on Wednesday, 25th August, 2021 on Channel TV Sunrise Programmme. He claimed that some sponsors of Boko Haram are in government. He went further to alleged that some people want to "islamise this country." For a man who spent over three decades in the military service to have spewed such allegations and with evidences of terror in separate parts of the country, yet there is silence from the Chief Security Officer of our country, one cannot not but be compelled to believe him. To corroborate this claim, Governor of Benue state, Samuel Ortom has repeatedly cried out that his people are worse-hit and are at the receiving end of the herders-killing and kidnapping activities yet the President of the nation remains on mute mode. 

Only recently, the President came out to champion the establishment of grazing reserves in 25 states of the country. This is not only callous but insensitive and an outright assault to the living and the dead in their ancestral lands. 

The release, rehabilitation and reintegration of the so-called Boko Haram repentants send a signal about this government's unseriousness in combating the menance. No one talks about those they kidnapped, killed and displaced from their homes. What about the soldiers who died at the battle fronts while wrestling Boko Haram men and bandits? What is the plight of the families and next-of-kins they left behind? Why has the government refused to name, shame and convict those sponsors of terrorists in our land?

This is the realty: The war is far from being won. If nothing serious is done about the kidnappings and killings in our land, we may all be consumed. It is only a matter of time.

Ndoma-Egba Bags Global Achievers Media Lifetime Achievement Award, Abang bags Role Model Award, 2021

An accomplished physician and a professor of surgery, Prof. Rowland Ndoma-Egba will be honoured with a prestigious and highly celebrated lifetime achievement award by Global Achievers Media, soon.

In a statement by the Deputy Editor, Mr. Godswill Odiong, the long standing professor of surgery in the University of Calabar and Chief Consultant Surgeon in the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Rowland Ndoma-Egba, will be honoured for his time-honoured dedication, diligence and absolute fidelity to the medical profession. 

Ndoma-Egba parades almost an innnumerable number of awards and honours and he is credited with over eighty peer reviewed scientific publications in reputable local and international journals as well as over 50 public lectures covering various subjects. 

He will for a long time be remembered for his intellectual contributions to the field of medicine which have expanded the frontiers of knowledge and opened up more research areas in orthodox medicine.

 Many of his products trained by him, constitute some of the best medical experts around the globe.

Also to be honoured soon is a long-standing chartered accountant, Mr. John Ekure Abang, with vast knowledge and experience in the field of accountancy, spanning over two decades. 

A thoroughbred professional, John Abang has impacted positively on the society through the instrumentality of the accounting profession. 

A forward figure, he is a member of several professional bodies and he is currently the operation and performance analyst in the Mfamosing Plant Operations of Lafarge Africa Plc.

He will always be appreciated for his humble,  kind disposition and contributions towards the well-being of several people and places in the society.

Global Achievers Season of Awards

In consistent and commitment to the practice of promoting positive ideals and ideas and in appreciation to those who have contributed immesurably to the well being of the society through their respective professions and personal resources, GLOBAL ACHIEVERS MEDIA is set to honour  individuals as well as organisations in the second edition of GLOBAL ACHIEVERS ONLINE MAGAZINE (globalachieversmedia.blogspot.com) AWARDS.

In the first phase of the second edition of the award, Mr. John Nyiam, a vibrant, versatile and viable young man will be honoured in the YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR category. This is in recognition and appreciation of his job creation role through his company, John Cherish; which has employed many youths and is credited to be one of the largest employers of labour in the private sector in Cross River State.

Also to be honoured is Barr. Enome Amatey, a serious lawyer, vocal crusader,  advocate and defender of human rights, renowned for his consistent crusades for the independence of the judiciary, he is a star whose light shines through the legal firmament. Having been in the legal profession for a decade now, he has recorded tremendous achievements at the bar.  Enome Amatey will be honoured in the YOUNG PROFESSIONAL category.

Also to be recognised and accorded honour in the YOUNG PROFESSIONAL category, is a female lawyer with remarkable achievements, Barr. Peace Ohiaeri. She is a role model to several young ladies who aspire to become great in the corporate and academic worlds.

The season of awards which will kick start formally on 19th May, 2021, will end on 1st June, 2021. 

In line with the times, and in order to keep to COVID-19 rules, there will be no formal ceremony as it were in the first edition. 

The awards will be sent to the recipients in their respective homes or offices as shall be provided.

Gunmen invade Benue Varsity Campus, Kidnap Students

Unknown gunmen have invaded the Federal University of Agriculture located in Makurdi, the Benue State Capital and kidnapped scores of students.

Details of the incident remained sketchy as at press time.

But DAILY POST gathered that the incident occurred on Sunday night when the gunmen stormed the campus, shooting sporadically to scare the university security away before taking some students to an unknown destination.

The university’s Director of Information, Protocol and Public Relations Unit (IPPR), Mrs Rosemary Waku, confirmed this on Monday morning.

Also, the state’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Anene Sewuese Catherine confirmed the incident to DAILY POST correspondent.

She promised to issue a statement shortly.

SOURCE: DAILY POST

Jihadists Kill 31 Soldiers in North East Nigeria

At least 31 Nigerian soldiers were killed when IS-aligned jihadists ambushed a military convoy escorting weapons and overran a base in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state, military sources said on Monday.

Fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) attacked the convoy with rocket-propelled grenades on Sunday in the town of Mainok outside the regional capital Maiduguri before storming the nearby base, the two sources said.

The attack was the deadliest this year against Nigeria’s army which has been battling a decade-long jihadist insurgency in the region that has killed 36,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes.

“We lost 31 soldiers, including their commander who was a lieutenant colonel, in the ambush by the terrorists,” a military officer said about the attack which happened around 1100 GMT.

The convoy was transporting weapons to Maiduguri when it came under attack, said a second military source who gave a similar toll.

“The terrorists came in several trucks, including four MRAPs (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles) and engaged the convoy in a fierce battle,” the second source said.

The militants overwhelmed soldiers, leading to the “colossal loss” of troops, he said.

“We lost a lot of men in very gruesome way.”

The jihadists seized weapons and two MRAPs in the attack before overrunning and partially burning the base outside the town, the two sources said.

Mainok, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Maiduguri, has been repeatedly targeted by the jihadists.

ISWAP has frequently set up bogus checkpoints along the 120-km highway linking Maiduguri and Damaturu in neighbouring Yobe state on which Mainok lies, killing and abducting travellers.

ISWAP split from mainstream Boko Haram faction in 2016 and rose to become a dominant force in the northeast as Nigeria’s conflict has spilt over borders into neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

SOURCE: GUARDIAN