NIGERIA MASTERWEB DAILY NEWS

*Nigeria: Avoidable Deaths in Niger Delta

By John Araka

Okerenkoko, in Gbaramatu Kingdom, in Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State is no stranger to violence. May, last year, it made headlines when it was bombarded from the sea, air and land by the Joint Military Task Force (JTF). Since then, the headquarters of the dreaded Niger Delta warlord, Tompolo, has attracted some succour from governments and other quarters. It has, therefore, witnessed some relative calm. The tranquility of the town was, however, violated last week. This time around, it had nothing to do with militancy or clash with law enforcement agencies. It was all about poor facilities in their hospital which caused the avoidable death of a young woman in labour.

Consequently, hundreds of Ijaw youths, women and men poured into the streets of Okerenkoko. They were armed with leaves and tree branches. They mournfully rendered songs of sorrow. Their point of call was the only hospital in that part of the Niger Delta, built years back by the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC. They laid siege to the hospital. Their reason according to a woman leader, Mrs. Gold Mademi was to protest poor facilities and inadequate personnel which have led to the avoidable death of many women and children in the area.

“The woman that died last week was in labour and she was rushed here with a part of the baby already out. What was needed was CS (caesarian section) to bring out the baby, but because there was no equipment doctors could not perform the surgery. She died on the way, as she was being rushed to Warri for proper treatment” she said. ( Continues below….. )

Photo Above: Tompolo (Left), MEND Militant Leader - Henry Okah (Right)

Pathetic. In the Creeks of the Niger Delta, avoidable deaths of this nature are very common. Most of the communities have no access to medical facilities. In sane societies, a place like the Niger Delta should have a clinic in virtually every community. The clumsiness of the creeks should be no excuse. After all, it is from the bowels of these so-called inaccessible creeks that the wealth of the nation is extracted. We are talking of over 95 percent of our total foreign exchange earnings.

Paradoxically, it is the region infected with all manners of diseases. All because the environment has been seriously devastated in the past 50 years by mindless oil exploitation with countless oil spillages to the bargain. Worse still, is that most of the people in the region have no potable water. They drink water from the same rivers, rivulets and streams in which they wash their clothes, take their bath and empty their bowels. That explains why water borne diseases are rampant. For these reasons, one would expect that the Niger Delta should be given special attention in the siting of health facilities. That unfortunately, is not the case. In several cases, people have to travel for hours to reach a clinic, which is often poorly equipped and poorly manned as was evident in Okerenkoko.

Given the fact that the Okerenkoko hospital was built by the NDDC, one expected higher standards. But what happened was that, it handed it over to the Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission, DESOPADEC, to run. That was to ensure that the state agency took proper care of the place. Since the name of NDDC will inevitably be mentioned when the hospitals that it built are run aground, it should show more than passing interest on how they are managed.

A leader of the area Mr. Momotimi Guwor said “when DESOPADEC was running the hospital it was very well managed. But after the crisis of May 13, 2009 DESOPADEC handed it over to Tare Ventures to manage. The owner of this outfit lives abroad. So, we want a situation whereby DESOPADEC runs this hospital directly because we don’t have doctors here, just a few nurses who merely carry out first aid”. It is difficult to understand why the only hospital which serves several communities was handed over to an absentee management. If DESOPADEC was, for whatever reason, desirous of giving the hospital to someone else to run, it should have looked for a competent organization. Certainly, not the Tare venture man who does not have what it takes to efficiently manage the health facility. The Delta State government should, therefore, heed the plea of the people of Okerenkoko by ordering DESOPADEC to take over the running of the hospital again. Even with all the challenges that the agency is currently facing, there can be no comparison between the level of services it can render with that of the absentee owner of Tare Ventures. Since DESOPADEC was set up solely to cater for the developmental needs of the oil producing areas, it should not shy away for its responsibility. ( Continues below..... )

Photo Above: Map of Nigeria's Niger Delta Region showing Port Harcourt

It is very painful that various levels of governments in this country and their agencies treat the health of our citizens with levity. They don’t just care. This is most unfortunate. In most parts of the world, the health of the citizenry is given top priority. Enough resources are devoted to it. This is to ensure that there are adequate competent professionals, with up-to-date facilities to do their job. That is the main reason they enjoy longer life span. Nigeria is notorious for having one of the highest infant and maternal mortality in the world. This is the expensive price we pay for having leaders whose only reason for assuming leadership positions is to swell their bank accounts. Service to the people takes the back burner.

One cannot understand why 50 years after independence, most Nigerians can still not have access to basic health facilities. Even when provisions are made for them in the budgets, the money ends up in the private pockets of some of our leaders.

This obnoxious practice is mainly responsible for the stunted growth of the health sector of this country. The issue is further complicated by incessant strikes by doctors in public health institutions. They have a litany of complaints. Their grouse include poor remunerations. They are also unhappy with the cessation of overseas training for resident doctors to hone their skills and make them internationally competitive. They condemn scanty facilities and the purchase of sophisticated medical equipment, without first of all training Nigerian doctors to handle them efficiently. ( Continues below….. )

Photo Above: President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria

This mess in the health sector has been going on for too long. It is now a status symbol for one to go abroad for medical attention and even to die there. Our former President, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was treated unsuccessfully in a hospital of a third world country like Nigeria, in Saudi Arabia. What a shame!

Certainly, we cannot continue endlessly on this inglorious journey. That is why, I support the recent action by a reputable human right activist, and seasoned lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana. He has taken the federal government to court to restrain it from taking any public officer abroad for medical treatment. He wants the court to compel the government to “ensure that there are adequate medical and health facilities for all persons in the country”. I pray that he succeeds in his patriotic mission. If that happens, the nation will save the whopping sum of over $2.8 billion (N450 billion) that our rich men spend on overseas medical treatment every year.

The Fraudian theory of ego, should not only apply to individuals, but also to nations. As a country, we should have a sense of self esteem. Our nation is fast losing its self respect by allowing our rich men to run abroad even for minor ailments that can easily be treated in this country.

Yes, it is the fundamental human right of every Nigerian to seek medical treatment anywhere in the world. Since this right has, however, been flagrantly abused by our leaders to the detriment of the growth of our health sector, it should be tampered with. The money spent on overseas medical consultations, check-ups and treatments annually by Nigerians is more than enough to build some of the best hospitals in the world in this country. President Goodluck Jonathan should, therefore, give us world-class hospitals to end the shame of Nigerians flocking abroad for medical attention.

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