Special Report
Rise And Fall Of Gaddafi (III)
The blitzkrieg launched by the Libyan rebels in collaboration with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) forces six months ago, has finally brought to a tragic end the 42-year old autocratic reign of Colonel Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi.
In this concluding part of this report The Tide continues with a look at the Gaddafi era, the event leading to his downfall as well as the future of Libya under the National Transitional Council (NTC). Read on.
Stories compiled by Desmond Osueke
2011 Libyan civil war and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1970
On 17 February 2011, major political protests began in Libya against Gaddafi’s government. During the following week these protests gained significant momentum and size, despite stiff resistance from the Gaddafi government. By late February the country appeared to be rapidly descending into chaos, and the government lost control of most of Eastern Libya. Gaddafi fought back, accusing the rebels of being “drugged” and linked to al-Qaeda terror groups in Saudi Arabia. His military forces killed rebelling civilians, and relied heavily on the Khamis Brigade, led by one of his sons Khamis Gaddafi, and on tribal leaders loyal to him. He imported foreign mercenaries to defend his government, reportedly paying Ghanaian mercenaries as much as US$2,500 per day for their services, with advertisements for mercenaries appearing in Nigerian newspapers. Reports from Libya also confirmed involvement with Belarus, and the presence of Ukrainian and Serbian mercenaries.
Gaddafi’s violent response to the protesters prompted defections from his government. Gaddafi’s “number two” man, Abdul Fatah Younis, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil and several key ambassadors and diplomats resigned from their posts in protest. Other government officials refused to follow orders from Gaddafi, and were jailed for insubordination.
At the beginning of March 2011, Gaddafi returned from a hideout, relying on considerable amounts of Libyan and US cash that had apparently been stored in the capital. Gaddafi’s forces had retaken momentum and were in shooting range of Benghazi by March 2011 when the UN declared a no fly zone to protect the civilian population of Libya.A NATO airstrike on 30 April killed Gaddafi’s youngest son and three of his grandsons at his son’s home in Tripoli, the Libyan government said. Government officials said that Muammar Gaddafi and his wife were visiting the home when it was struck, but both were unharmed. Gaddafi son’s death came one day after the Libyan leader appeared on state television calling for talks with NATO to end the airstrikes which have been hitting Tripoli and other Gaddafi strongholds since last month. Gaddafi suggested there was room for negotiation, but he vowed to stay in Libya. Western officials have been divided in recent weeks over whether Gaddafi is a legitimate military target under the United Nations Security Council resolution that authorized the air campaign. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that NATO was “not targeting Gaddafi specifically” but that his command-and-control facilities were legitimate targets-including a facility inside his sprawling Tripoli compound that was hit with airstrikes 25 April.
Crimes against humanity and arrest warrant
The UN referred the massacres of unarmed civilians to the International Criminal Court. Among the crimes being investigated by the prosecution is whether Gaddafi purchased and authorized the use of Viagra-like drugs among soldiers for the purpose of raping women and instilling fear. His government’s heavy-handed approach to quelling the protests was characterized by the International Federation for Human Rights as a strategy of scorched earth. The acts of “indiscriminate killings of civilians” was charged as crimes against humanity, as defined in Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
On 27 June 2011 the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Gaddafi, accusing him of crimes against humanity and of ordering attacks on civilians in Libya. Arrest warrants were also issued for his son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and the intelligence chief Abdullah Senussi.The presiding judge, Sanji Mmasenono Monageng, stated that there were “reasonable grounds to believe” that Gaddafi and Saif al-Islam were “criminally responsible as indirect co-perpetrators” for the murder of civilians. She added that they “conceived and orchestrated a plan to deter and quell by all means the civilian demonstrations” and that Senussi used his position to have attacks carried out. Libyan officials rejected the ICC’s authority, saying that the ICC has “no legitimacy whatsoever” and that “all of its activities are directed at African leaders”.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam, and Abdullah al-Senussi, head of state security for charges concerning crimes against humanity on 27 June 2011. According to Matt Steinglass of The Financial Times the charges call for Gaddafi, and his two co-conspirators, to “stand trial for the murder and persecution of demonstrators by Libyan security forces since the uprising based in the country’s east that began in February.” This makes him the second still-serving state-leader to have warrants issued against them, the first being Omar al-Bashir of Sudan.
A Libyan government representative, justice minister Mohammed al-Qamoodi, responded by saying that “The leader of the revolution and his son do not hold any official position in the Libyan government and therefore they have no connection to the claims of the ICC against them …”
Russia and other countries, including China and Germany, abstained from voting in the UN and have not joined the NATO coalition, which has taken action in Libya by bombing the government’s forces. Mikhail Margelov, the Kremlin special representative for Africa, speaking in an interview for Russian newspaper Izvestia, said that the “Kremlin accepted that Col Gaddafi [sic] had no political future and that his family would have to relinquish its vice-like grip on the Libyan economy.” He also said that “It is quite possible to solve the situation without the colonel”.
Loss of international recognition
In connection with the Libyan uprising, Gadaffi’s attempts to influence public opinion in Europe and the United States came under increased scrutiny.
Since the beginning of the 2011 conflict a number of powerful countries pushed for the international isolation of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. On 15 July 2011, at a meeting in Istanbul, more than 30 governments recognised the Transitional National Council (TNC) as the legitimate government of Libya.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “The United States views the Gaddafi regime as no longer having any legitimate authority in Libya … And so I am announcing today that, until an interim authority is in place, the United States will recognize the TNC as the legitimate governing authority for Libya, and we will deal with it on that basis.”Gaddafi responded to the announcement with a speech on Libyan national television, in which he said “Trample on those recognitions, trample on them under your feet … They are worthless”.
On 25 August 2011, with most of Tripoli having fallen out of Gaddafi’s control, the Arab League proclaimed the anti-Gaddafi National Transitional Council to be “the legitimate representative of the Libyan state”, on which basis Libya would resume its membership of the League.
Marriages and children
His sons, Moatasim al-Gaddafi (pictured) and Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, were prominent on the government’s politics’ scene. A succession battle was speculated between the two brothers.
Gaddafi’s second wife is Safia Farkash, née el-Brasai, a former nurse from Al Bayda with Hungarian origins. He met her in 1969, following the revolt, when he was hospitalized with appendicitis. Gaddafi had eight biological children, seven of them sons.
Gaddafi’s brother-in-law Abdullah Senussi, is believed to head military intelligence.
The family’s main residence was in the Bab al-Azizia military barracks, located in the southern suburbs of Tripoli.
Flight to Algeria
As the Battle for Tripoli reached a climax in mid-August 2011, the family were forced to abandon their fortified compound. With the National Transitional Council in almost complete control of the country, on 27 August it was reported by the Egyptian news agency Mena that Libyan rebel fighters had seen six armoured Mercedes-Benz sedans, possibly carrying top Gaddafi regime figures, cross the border at the south-western Libyan town of Ghadamis towards Algeria, which at the time was denied by the Algerian authorities. On 29 August, the Algerian government officially announced that Safia together with daughter Ayesha and sons Muhammad and Hannibal, had crossed into Algeria early on Monday 29 August. An Algerian Foreign Ministry official said all the people in the convoy were now in Algiers, and that none of them had been named in warrants issued by the International Criminal Court for possible war crimes charges. Mourad Benmehidi, the Algerian permanent representative to the United Nations, later confirmed the details of the statement. The family had arrived at a Sahara desert entry point, in a Mercedes and a bus at 8:45 a.m. local time. The exact number of people in the party was unconfirmed, but there were “many children” and they did not include Colonel Gaddafi. Resultantly the group was allowed in on humanitarian grounds, and the Algerian government had since informed the head of the Libyan National Transitional Council, who had made no official request for their return.
Personal wealth
Italian companies had a strong foothold in Libya. Italy buys a quarter of Libya’s oil and 15% of its natural gas. The LIA owned significant shares in Italy’s Eni oil corporation, Fiat, UniCredit bank, and Finmeccanica. In January 2002 Gaddafi purchased a 7.5% share of Italian football club Juventus for US$21 million, through the Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company. This followed a long-standing association with Italian industrialist Gianni Agnelli and car manufacturer Fiat.
.By his own estimation, Gaddafi considers himself an intellectual and philosopher. He is known for a flamboyant dress sense, with a strong taste for safari suits and sunglasses. He changes his clothing several times each day, and according to his former nurses, “enjoys surrounding himself with beautiful things and people.” He hired several nurses to care for his health, all of whom were beautiful young Ukrainian women. Since the 1980s he has traveled with his Amazonian Guard, which is all-female, and reportedly is sworn to a life of celibacy (although Dr Seham Sergheva reported in 2011 that some of them were subjected to rape and sexual abuse by Gadaffi, his sons and senior officials. In 2009, it was revealed that he does not travel without his trusted Ukrainian nurse Halyna Kolotnytska, noted as a “voluptuous blonde”. Halyna’s daughter denied the suggestion that the relationship is anything but professional. Gaddafi frequently made sexual advances on female journalists, and successfully bedded a few in exchange for interviews. Gaddafi’s former aides have said he is “obsessive” about his image. He gave gold watches with images of his face to his staff as gifts. In 2011, a Brazilian doctor told the Associated Press that he performed plastic surgery on Gaddafi in 1995 to avoid appearing old to the Libyan people.
A Revolutionary Command Council was formed to rule the country, with Gaddafi as chairman. He added the title of prime minister in 1970, but gave up this title in 1972. Unlike some other military revolutionaries, Gaddafi did not promote himself to the rank of general upon seizing power, but rather accepted a ceremonial promotion from lieutenant to colonel and remained at this rank. While at odds with Western military ranking, where a colonel would not rule a country or serve as commander-in-chief of its military, in Gaddafi’s own words Libya’s society is “ruled by the people”, so he did not need a more grandiose title or supreme military rank.
Gaddafi made very particular requests when traveling to foreign nations. During his trips to Rome, Paris, Moscow, and New York, he resided in a tent, following his Bedouin traditions. While in Italy, he paid a modeling agency to find 200 young Italian women for a lecture he gave urging them to convert to Islam. According to a 2009 document release by WikiLeaks, Gaddafi dislikes flying over waters and refuses to take airplane trips longer than 8 hours. His inner circle stated that he could only stay on the ground floor of buildings, and that he cannot climb more than 35 steps.
Special Report
What I Am Grateful For
Title: What I Am Grateful For
Authors: Soye Aguda & Raphael Aguda
Number Of Pages: 24
Date Of Publication: 2023
Reading Age: 3 – 12 years
Book Reviewer: Christian Ayasuk Ph.D
Written by Soye Aguda, and Raphael Aguda, is a colourful and illustrative book that is specifically tailored for the kids and teaches us, in very simple and clear language, the reasons why we should be thankful for what we have.
In this book, the authors, Soye and Raphael , demonstrate to the kids that being alive is a blessing; that being able to have food to eat, or clothes to wear, or shelter, or ability to read and comprehend, among others, is enough for everyone to be grateful for.
People who are always thankful go far in life. They often receive more. One African adage says: If you are grateful for today, tomorrow will offer you more things to be thankful about.
And this is ideal for every one of us, including the kids.
It Is also pertinent to note that Gratitude is a lifestyle, and should be gladly and consistently displayed. (1 Thessalonians 5:28).
The scripture says ungrateful people are always vain in their imaginations, and foolish in their hearts (Romans 1:21). So, this book guides the hearts of our young ones to reaping the fruits of GRATEFULNESS.
This “little”, yet powerful book teaches us that Gratitude or thankfulness is an attitude that should be developed, learned, and assimilated.
After reading this book, we’ll begin the see why being grateful is a virtue:
Gratitude brings abundance and attracts God’s blessings. It can eradicate stagnation and destruction in life (1 Samuel 25:2-13). Gratitude can bring about fruitful relationships with fellow human beings, and with God Almighty.
It is important to note that gratitude starts with the very little we have been given, so, this book teaches us to appreciate those “little” things. Importantly, being ungrateful can make us loose what we already have.
In summary, WHAT I AM GRATEFUL FOR, by Soye Aguda, and Raphael Aguda, inspires godly virtues in the lives of our kids, and therefore highly recommended to both the young and old.
Remember, when we are grateful we become more productive (Psalms 67:5-6).
Special Report
Eze Ogba @80: A Salute To Greatness
Critics and admirers fondly refer to him variously and severally as amiable, charismatic, blunt, visionary, an inspirational and committed King, a philosopher King, a philanthropist, an orator and motivator, a man of truth, perception and action, a defender of the oppressed, a versatile and courageous monarch. Indeed, there is no denying the fact that he has lived up to the billings.
This perhaps explains why many have sometimes misunderstood His Eminence, Sir (Dr) Chukumela Nnam Obi II, the Oba (Eze Ogba) of Ogbaland, who turns 80 today. And if we are to believe the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson that “to be great is to be misunderstood,” the Oba truly deserves a golden place in the pantheon of greats.
A consummate monarch imbued with congenital aura that shines like neon light, the Eze Ogba superintends the grassroots consciousness of his kingdom with mercurial audacity and clinical precision, and bestrides Nigeria’s traditional landscape like a magnificent colossus.
A man of capacious intellect with deft navigational capability, Sir Nnam Obi II possesses a conservative charm which accommodates all divergent opinions, even as it is difficult for his critics to dislodge his position on matters of public or political interest.
Nevertheless, the attestation to the greatness of this first class citizen and traditional ruler is underlined impressively by his array of honours and appointments since ascending the ancient Oba (Eze Ogba) throne on December 19, 1970, upon the death in April that year of Oba Wokoma Obi.
He has been an Officer of the Order Of the Niger (OON), Distinguished Service Star of Rivers State (DSSRS), Justice of Peace (JP), Grand Patron, Nigeria Union of Journalists; Knight Grand Commander of the Mystical Order of St Peter; Doctor of Letters (D. Litt), Los Angeles, California; Doctor of Technology, and First Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, (1980-84); Doctor of Science (D.Sc) and Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Akure, 1992-2000; Fellow, Federal College of Education (Technical), Omoku; Chairman, Rivers State Conference of Traditional Rulers and Chiefs, 1972-79; member, International Committee on Chieftaincy and Royalty for FESTAC (Nigeria’s representative), 1974-77; Chairman, Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers, 1994-96; pioneer National President, Traditional Rulers of Oil Mineral Producing Communities of Nigeria (TROMPCON), 1994-2000; member, National Council on Nigerian Vision (NCNV), 1996-99; member and Elder Statesman, National Political Reform Conference (NPRC), 2004; Chairman, Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers, 2007-2009 and a lot more.
Since his ascendance to the sacred throne of Eze Ogba over 49 years ago, the light of Sir Nnam Obi II’s wisdom has continued to shine to the admiration of his people and others across the globe. The Ogba people have continued to preserve their loyalty to the sacred monarch as various group pay him solidarity visits in support of his visionary and dynamic leadership and efforts at bringing peace to the kingdom. No doubt, the Eze Ogba belongs to that class of mortals whom the legendary classical playwright, Williams Shakespeare said achieved greatness.
Yet, appraising Oba Nnam Obi II’s resume, evokes an intriguing paradox as his road to greatness was not without bumps and potholes.
Born by remarkable intervention of destiny on November 20, 1940 into the royal family of Umueze-Ogba kindred of Ogba at the foot of the great Opowu shrine of Ahiakwo Nwaozegbe, a sacred temple of worship by the Ogba people, Oba Nnam Obi II had a rather poor and humble background as things were extremely difficult for him.
Infact, the claws of poverty and the drudgery of hard labour were so much that it got to a point where the young Chukumela prayed for death to no avail.
Disappointed that his prayer was not answered, the young ruler-to-be went to his father’s grave and asked: “why did you bring me to the world and ran away.” But these travails, rather than discourage him, toughened and made him have patience, despite being orphaned on both sides and colonized by the insensitive nature of man as exemplified in his brothers who made him a total stranger.
Resilient and determined, and perhaps edged in by his destiny, the young Chukumela, relying on sheer force of will-power and self-support, paved his way through primary and secondary education.
On countless times, he dug sand at Omoku River, fished at the River Niger to make ends meet. Even at a point in his life, he was a newspaper vendor in Kano.
Undeterred by his condition, he excelled in academics at Sancta Maria High School, Omoku where he was a pioneer student. His excellent leadership qualities were identified quite erly as he was at various times labour prefect and senior prefect.
It was for this reason that his school principal then, Rev Fr. G.B. Kilbride wrote in his testimonial that: “Chukumela Obi is a very remarkable boy who is being groomed by the fate of great suffering into a great office.”
However, owing to what the Eze Ogba himself described as barriers of life, he finished secondary education at the age of 26 in 1966. He explains: “Some people were born without certain hurdles. But whether hurdles come early or later in life, I have learnt my lessons. They are all one and the same. The God who occasioned both hurdles did not intend to punish anybody. He intended them for experience. We must learn these experiences. We have come here (this world) to learn.”
Even at that, he does not wish anyone, whether his children or even his detractors, that kind of experience as, according to him, they may not have the patience and ability to cope with it.
Oba cautions that in life nobody should be boastful or be deterred by the situation he finds himself as God is the excellent judge who knows it all, and can deprive man of his needs and wants at a particular time just to observe him.
According to the monarch, provided one does not do things that are wrong in the sight of God, time would come when He would exalt the poor. To him, everyone should strive assiduously to explore situations and even opportunities opened to him in life as an individual with a view to destroying impediments to self-actualization.
It is irrefragable that Oba’s humble beginning epitomizes the parable of perseverance and triumph over the vicissitudes of life. As the Curator of the Ancient Mystical Order of the Rose and Cross (AMORC), Spencer Lewis, once put it: “there is no destiny, no fate, no change, that can circonvent nor hinder, nor control the firm resolve of a determined soul”.
Today, he is unarguably one of the few bright stars in the throbbing firmament of Nigeria’s traditional institution.
Pondering the meaning of life and his place in the cosmos as a mystic and traditionalist, the Eze Ogba has been living in the service of his people, confronting the resultant challenges therein and bringing integrity, straight forwardness, and serene peace into the governance of Ogba Kingdom.
It is perhaps as a measure of the magnitude and influence of Oba’s existential excellence, charming personality, and unique traditional inheritance that successive administrations in Nigeria have always sought his wise counsel, especially at every critical moment of the nation’s life.
Married to four wives with several children, most of whom are holding their own in their various callings, Oba proudly says loud and clear that he is happier than many who are married to one wife. He maintains that such persons have more problems than himself, adding that anybody who visits his palace would not know that he is married to four wives.
Albeit, he abhors autocracy, he is a very strict disciplinarian who takes full charge of his palace at all times with his word as law.
At his usual morning devotions, Oba, a Knight of the Mystical Order of Saint Peter, inculcates in his wives and children, the sense of oneness and truth, and makes everyone realize that his possession is theirs.
As a mystic and philosopher versed in the different characteristics of people, he blends his wives different qualities to have matrimonial bliss, harmony, and cohesive family.
However, Oba Nnam Obi II who says he ought to have married before his years at Sancta Maria High School in 1962 in compliance with his step mother’s advice to do so as the only surviving son of his mother, states that he owes his success to the immeasurable support of his wives and children, and to the understanding cooperation, and unflinching loyalty of his people.
No doubt, Odudu, Anyiama Osa, Ekwueme, as he is fondly called by his ever loving people has, by all parameters, lived a fulfilled life, having exhibited and manifested a wonderful and divinely-inspired progressive pilgrimage of sterling leadership.
These days, owing to age and health, Oba prefers pounded yam, chicken, fishes and non-carbohydrate foods. And to unwind, he watches television, listens to radio and reads newspapers even though he has no dull moments at all, given the number of children he has, and the swarm of visitors to his palace.
And as with all his birthday celebrations, even if low-keyed, his daughters, the Oba hints, do “compose songs and sing like sparrows to my delight,” saying, he does not regret having them, just as the boys.
As we toast to the long life and good health of this great African traditional ruler at 80 today, may those his beautiful daughters never get tired of singing like sparrows to his delight and to the satisfaction of everyone, and to the glory of God.
By: Victor Tew / Vincent Ochonma
Special Report
60 Years Of Nigeria’s Health Sector: Challenges And Way Forward
Like every other sector of the Nigerian state, the country’s health sector has evolved from one stage to another, up to the present state.
From the pre-colonial era, when treatment for ailments was based purely on traditional medicine as it relates to different parts of the country, through the emergence of the first modern medical services in Nigeria, then during the various European expeditions in the early, to mid19th century, to the era of organised healthcare services, and finally to the present era of deliberate and planned brain drain in the sector, the development in Nigeria’s heath sector has been one that requires more attention than is given it.
There is no doubt that the profession of medicine has been quite active in terms of changing for the better in accordance with global demands. For instance, the Health care systems have undergone changes, and, except for a few exceptions, the changes are for the better:
The way in which physicians are trained has changed. The management of disease entities has also changed at various points. The change has also cut across disease entities that have been treated and available therapeutic modalities, which have also undergone continual changes.
On attaining independence in 1960, the health sector, like other sectors, inherited the centralised health care services format of the colonial era, which vested the authority to take key decisions in the sector in the hand of the central government.
Then, while medical services developed and expanded with industrialisation, most medical doctors were civil servants, except those working for missionary hospitals, who combined evangelical work with healing.
Among the civil service doctors, one was appointed the Chief Medical Officer, who became the principal executor of health care policies in Nigeria, along with several other junior colleagues comprising senior medical officers and medical officers, who formed the nucleus of the ministry of health in Lagos. The detail of centralised administration of health services then was complex and reflected the complex political transformation of the whole region.
The health care services in Nigeria have been characterised by short-term planning, as is the case with the planning of most aspects of the Nigerian life. The major national development plans are “The First Colonial Development plan from 1945-1955″, “The Second Colonial Development plan from 1956-1962”, and “The First National Development Plan from 1962-1968”.
Others are: “The Second National Development Plan from 1970-1975”, “The Third National Development Plan from 1975-1980″, “The Fourth National Development Plan from “Nigeria’s Five year Strategic Plan from 2004-2008″.
All of these plans formulated goals for nationwide health care services.
The overall national policy for Nationwide Health Care Services was clearly stated in a 1954 Eastern Nigeria government report on “Policy for Medical and Health Services.” This report stated that the aim was to provide national health services for all.
The report emphasised that since urban services were well developed, going by the country’s standards then, the government intended to expand rural services. These rural services would be in the form of rural hospitals of 20-24 beds, supervised by a medical officer, who would also supervise dispensaries, maternal and child welfare clinics and preventive work, such as sanitation workers.
The policy made local governments contribute to the cost of developing and maintaining such rural services, with grants-in-aid from the regional government. This report was extensive and detailed in its description of the services envisaged. This was the policy before and during independence. After independence in 1960, the same basic health care policy was pursued, and still is the case.
By the time the Third National Development Plan was produced in 1975, more than 20 years after the report mentioned above, not much had been done to achieve the goals of the Nationwide Health Care Services policy.
This plan, which was described by General Yakubu Gowon, the then Head of the Military Government, as “A Monument to Progress”, stated: “Development trends in the health sector have not been marked by any spectacular achievement during the past decade”.
As far as development of the health sector was concerned, this development plan appeared to have focused attention on trying to improve the numerical strength of existing facilities rather than evolving a clear health care policy. This, in a nutshell seems to have been the lot of Nigeria’s development in the health sector, and, in fact, all other vital sectors of the economy.
Health care in Nigeria has been prone to so many problems which are attributable to the fact that health services are in great demand following what could be tagged astronomical increase in population but accessibility to health services been very low. The cause of this has been related to factors such as socio-economic, cultural, political as well as poor planning and/or poor implementation of health policies and programmes by the government. There are also problems of availability, accessibility, affordability, sustainability of health services and weak referral system.
In 2000, World Bank noted that “deprivations that lead to ill health are common in developing countries, especially in Nigeria, and the poor in Nigeria are particularly at risk”.
According to Adam Wagstaff, a Research Manager of the Human Development team in the Development Research Group of the World Bank, ”the relationship between poverty and access to health care can be seen as part of a larger circle where poverty leads to ill health and ill health maintains poverty”.
The implication is that to effectively address health care, other relevant sectors that directly or indirectly contribute to poverty, which is a key factor in enhancing provision of health care and accessibility of same has to be addressed.
Unfortunately, policies in these sectors, especially for the negative impacts, are often not based on health criteria because the health sector itself tends to focus its interventions within the health care delivery system, not necessarily in other relevant sectors that constitute the sources of the problem.
For instance, to ensure totally effective health care delivery system, regular power supply is required to power all necessary equipment at all times. In the same vein, to totally prevent mosquito-borne diseases, environmental planning should ensure adequate provision of drainages avoid water stagnation, however little. As a result, the enormous health benefits accruable from interventions outside the health sector are not realized.
The education sector is another key long-established determinant for quality health and health care in any development-oriented society, but which has pitiably been bastardized, knowing that better education allows individuals to be more effective in converting health care and other health-enhancing goods into health.
The challenges facing the health sector in Nigeria, in sixty years of the country’s existence are, to say the least, numerous. But it can be summarised to include inaccessibility of quality health care, poor hygiene, corruption, malnutrition, lack of access to safe drinking water, poor health infrastructure, fake drugs, insufficient financial investment, and lack of sufficient health personnel.
Government’s performance in the health sector has been at best abysmal. Investment in infrastructure has been poor and meagre remuneration for health workers has created a massive brain drain to the US and Europe.
The annual budget of the government for the health sector is 4.17% of the total national budget, which is equivalent to only $5 per person annually.
In more recent Nigeria, the expected lofty goals in the health sector have not been achieved. The capacities of the facilities that emerged from previous efforts have been stretched and infrastructure broken beyond repair. Primary health care services now exist only in name. The common man has virtually reverted to the herbalist and traditional healers for care because of access to quality health care and affordability issues.
The elites have perfected medical tourism to India, Singapore, South Africa and even Ghana. This is in the face of a rapidly changing disease patterns in which infectious diseases have been replaced by behavioural, environmental and poverty-related diseases.
Hardly a year passes without a major national strike by nurses, doctors, or health consultants. The major reasons for these strikes are poor salaries and lack of government investment in the health sector, and this is in the face of many Nigerians not being able to afford private hospitals which are simply too expensive.
Unfortunately, again, the management of the National Health Scheme (NHS) through the Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) which should ordinarily help people to secure better quality health care, had been bedeviled by corruption, crushing the opportunity and further making quality medical care inaccessible for people who contributed to the system.
The situation becomes worse when one considers the fact that the problem has nothing to do with lack of medical personnel. Certainly not! This is because about 77 per cent of black doctors in the United States of America are said to be Nigerians, and Nigerians have achieved tremendous feats in American medicine.
A good example is Doctor Oluyinka Olutoye, a Nigerian based in Houston, who made history recently by bringing out a fetus from a mother’s womb to remove a tumor, and then successfully restoring the unborn baby to the womb. In fact, there is rarely any top medical institution in the United States or Europe where you won’t find Nigerians managing at the top level.
The health sector, no doubt, has failed largely due to inept leadership. Despite the huge talents of Nigerians, which are on display in health sectors all over the world, Nigeria’s health system is failing. Donor countries and multilateral organisations are aware of these challenges, but there’s little they can do to improve the situation.
The key solution, therefore, is for Nigeria’s policymakers and health professionals, including Nigerians in Diaspora, to come together and create a long-term blueprint for the sector. The term should not only be ideally realisable in the context of the country’s peculiar socio-cultural and economic reality, but should also include a strategy for success in the next 25-35 years with timelines and key performance indicators.
If this can be judiciously done, Nigeria can truly and easily be moving towards its dream of attaining that “Giant of Africa” status it has so much desired but truly failed to achieve in it in reality.
By: Sogbeba Dokubo