Nigeria is an interesting and exciting country. But at times, it can be full of tension and gloom to the extent that some patriots will entertain fears over its continued corporate existence. It is also a country of paradox, the good and the bad. On one side, Nigeria can be regarded as a rich country because of its oil revenue. On the other side, it can be labeled a poor country considering that over 70 percent of Nigerians live below poverty line at less than one US dollar a day. We can boast of millionaires that rank among the top on the continent, yet the poor in Nigeria are among the worst in the world.
It hosts almost every devastating disease in the world. We have small pox, chicken pox and the latest epidemic ravaging the country, the monkey pox. If there is any new pox in the offing, Nigeria must catch it with feverish speed. We have had HIV/AIDS and Ebola Virus Disease, too. We are home to polio, malaria, tuberculosis and other contagious diseases in the world. We have our fair share of non-communicable diseases, too. Name them: hypertension, diabetes, stroke and others.
Its fine cities are encircled with growing slums and poverty. It is a deeply religious country where corruption walks on four legs. Corruption is so endemic that President Muhammadu Buhari was quoted as saying that ‘if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill us.’ With what is happening so far, especially in the APC camp, it appears that we are fast losing the fight while corruption is fiercely fighting back unrelenting. What happened to the grass cutting contract worth millions of naira, the huge amount of money discovered at Osborne Road, Ikoyi apartment and many others? Have these matters been swept under the carpet or will they see the light of the day. Nigerians are watching.
The list of such contradictions in the polity can go on and on without end. Its politics and democracy cannot be said to be among the best in the world. Our federal system of government is peculiarly Nigerian with its fine colours and bad ones. It is full of contradictions, federal and the same time unitary. Its contradictory nature is fueling ethnic agitations in the country with most Nigerians calling for a restructured Nigerian Federation, where the federating units will develop at their own pace.
But nothing epitomizes the nation’s paradox more than the recent revelation of a failing and decrepit Aso Rock Clinic by the First Lady, Aisha Buhari. The poor state of the foremost clinic epitomizes the nation’s failing health systems. It is also a pointer to the fact that things may not get better in the country. The clinic, which attends to the health of the first family, vice president and family, aides, and staff of State House and other public officials, lacked basic consumables as syringes and gloves and simple drug as paracetamol tablets.
Its X-ray machine is not functioning. If the State House Clinic is like this, you can guess rightly how others in the hinterland will be. You can imagine how those in our teaching hospitals will be. Unfortunately, this ugly situation obtains despite huge budgetary allocations to the clinic in the past three years totaling over N11 billion. Somebody must be made to account how the huge budgetary allocations were expended.
We want accountability at all levels of governance. The Aso Rock Clinic metaphor is representative of the true picture of the health sector in the entire country. That is why many Nigerians die every day of treatable ailments such as malaria and typhoid fever. That is why many pregnant women die in Nigeria every year in the course of giving birth to future citizens. That is why many under-five children die annually in the country. I don’t want to bore you with figures of those killed by malnutrition.
Foreigners, especially those from Europe and America, often wonder why many Nigerians die prematurely in spite of our good weather, foods and the nation’s abundant material resources. While the health sector is underfunded by successive governments, our leaders join the next available flights to United Kingdom and America to access first class medical treatment.
Wealthy Nigerians have also joined the band wagon of burgeoning medical tourism, which they have extended to Asian countries. Medical tourism will persist until we bring back our health sector. It will continue until government revamps the ailing sector and prioritise it. Health is wealth. The healthiest nations are among the richest nations. They are also the most industrialized. They fare well in academics and sports. Their citizens are among the happiest in the world.
They do well in business and commerce. The nexus between health and other sectors of human development cannot be neglected. But it is not only the health sector that is failing. The fight against corruption is failing as seen in the APC government’s inability to probe and punish erring members of the party accused of corruption. The party is only interested in probing only members of the PDP accused of corruption.
The partiality in the fight against corruption will only fuel more corruption in the country despite the government’s pronouncement and avowed stand on anti-corruption war. The education sector is failing too. Frequent disruption of academic calendars occasioned by strikes does not help matters. The recent report from Kaduna State of many teachers that failed exams meant for primary four pupils depicts the deteriorating nature of the sector.
The public sector is characterized by monumental corruption and nepotism of all shades. Check the Nigeria Customs Service and others. The transport sector is not so good with dilapidated roads and rickety vehicles on our roads. The rail transportation system is still at its teething stage. The aviation sector is struggling to look good while foreigners are taking it over from Nigerians. Our agriculture is still at rudimentary stage. The lip service to mechanized framing is its undoing.
It is sad that in a 21st Century world, we are still flaring gas despite signing agreements against global warming. We still import petrol and kerosene despite being oil-producing country.
Our refineries are dead. The licensed new ones are still in the pipeline. While other countries are planning for non-fossil fuels and cars without petrol, we are neck deep in searching for crude oil even in the deserts.
Instead of diversification of the economy, we are wholly dependent on oil as if without oil, we cannot exist. Nigerians had thought that President Buhari would have devoted the remaining two years of his administration to fix the comatose health sector in view of his recent medical experiences in a London hospital.
If the health sector is revamped, it will greatly and positively impact other sectors. I strongly believe that a healthy Nigeria will invariably translate to a wealthy nation. We cannot move to a healthy nation if our leaders continue to neglect the dying health sector as depicted by Aso Rock Clinic.