It is no more news that the health indices in Nigeria are worsening by the day due to the myriads of problems bedevilling our health sector, these include massive emigration of doctors and other health personnel to greener safer pastures. This is due to total lack of interest of our political class in developing our health institutions at all levels. Our hospitals lack the necessary facilities to save lives and staff welfare is poor thereby frustrating people out of the system.
The question is- are our medical personnel unintelligent enough to drive the system or is our training sub-par to that of our colleagues in developed nations? The answer to the above question is clear even to the blind as many Nigerian doctors and nurses have excelled in various fields winning several awards globally. Our political elites who have shamelessly embraced medical tourism can testify to the fact that many of them are managed by Nigerian doctors whenever they visit hospitals in diaspora.
While many states have been grappling with this reality and trying to stem the tide, Ekiti state seems to be accelerating geometrically in the opposite direction like the kid in the viral relay race video who ran towards the starting point instead of the finish line on getting the baton.
The past government did nothing about health infrastructure during his tenure. However, he approved and paid a higher reviewed salary (CONMESS/CONHESS). He also employed medical officers, nurses and consultants many of who are now diasporans including yours truly. The few functional general hospitals during his tenure depended on donations from well-wishers within the community of location. A quick research from state specialist Ikere will reveal various equipment bearing the insignia of donors including a fully equipped ward donated by WOLE OLANIPEKUN (SAN). A visit to the general hospitals like Iyin, Ijan, Ode, Ijesha Ishu will show most of the ceiling, fans, beds and mattresses, bedsheets and pillowcases, tables and chairs, generators bearing marks of various donors from the host communities.
With many of the general hospitals functioning below the 20% mark, enormous pressure is passed to the only state-owned tertiary institution which seems to be saving the day due to the struggling residency programme and availability of consultants in many fields. Other hospitals in the state are either peripherally located or private owned and thereby too expensive or not with adequate facilities to play a major role
EKSUTH commenced work in April 2008, upgraded from state specialist hospital Ado Ekiti established in 1971 inheriting same old structures now dilapidated with little or no addition in the last 49 years. A trip to the doctor’s quarters will show fallen ceilings, cracked walls, a dilapidated edifice co inhabited by intern doctors, snakes and lizards living in a delicate pathetic harmony. Calling the Accident and emergency unit an eyesore will be an understatement as the roofs are obeying the law of gravity, the walls dirty and cracked and the aged curtain is an epidemic causing factor in waiting. Hygiene is often poor with no facility for isolation, meaning a patient can come with a wound on the leg and go home with tuberculosis. Various other wards are in various state of dilapidation with glucometers, pulse oximeters shared by multiple wards. The A and E defibrillator belongs to the antiquities and the HDU lacks functional ventilator. The laboratory suffers an incessant breakdown of equipment delaying investigation results endlessly and in addition, the hospital lacks a central generator with incessant power failure.
Welfare is nothing to write home about as salary is perpetually delayed, with an obvious deficit when compared to other state institutions, a factor that has led to daily resignation of resident doctors, consultants and other clinical cadres. Deductions from cooperative societies are not remitted by the management thus some members of staff have been collecting half salaries. Pension deductions are not paid to the designated companies. The hospital is grossly understaffed as the emergency department is manned by 2 nurses and 1 medical officer in the evenings catering for 28 or more critically ill patients on busy nights. Many units lack the much-needed staffs including doctors, nurses and consultants with the few available ones being worked to stupor. All the above were attributed to the meagre subvention from the government.
All the above anomalies were tabled before the present state government and the appointed board chairman DR Teniola ( who though lives and works in the US make frequent trips on the hospitals on the meagre resources calling the shots) by the various hospital unions.
This administration was involved in the renovation of the abandoned obstetrics and gynaecology unit and thus fast-tracked her accreditation process. The same administration was involved in sacking consultants, professors and associate professors from the university with a resultant devastating ripple effect on the juvenile medical school, residency training and patient treatment as many of the sacked consultants are the lone pillars holding their units. The reasons given for this action were irregularities with age, primary school certificates and not following due process. This was quite laughable as many of them were employed from various institutions for the much-needed accreditation, a lack of which delayed the medical graduands for 10 years.
The second calamity was the callous sack of over 170 workers from all cadres including the disengagement of all Medical officers of Accident and Emergency and of some other departments in the hospital from service on the 31st of December, even without paying their salaries to prepare for the celebrations.
These 2 blatant errors have made other workers weary and on the lookout for other centres due to lack of job security.
The medical school is on the verge of collapse as a result of the premature exit of their trainers from the hospital and the university coupled with the unavoidable impending loss of accreditation. The ripple effect of this will mean “a harvest of death” for the citizenry because of the exit of specialists will inevitably demote the hospital to a malaria and typhoid treating centre which is a disaster better imagined than experienced.
To stem this ugly disastrous tide, the Ekiti state government should as a matter of urgency tender a public apology to the sacked workers and recall them back to their duty posts and depend more on hospital administrators who are ready to reside in the state. This should be followed by the construction of new wards, doctors quarters at the teaching hospital with a facelift of the existing facilities and procurement of needed equipment. Massive recruitment of health workers with the implementation of attractive welfare packages i.e. skipping, increase in subvention and prompt payment of salaries.
As for the federal institutions, a detailed video tour of the various hospitals in the country should be played during plenary showing the vast dilapidation, followed by an analysis of the doctors and health workers leaving the country on a daily basis. This will surely drive the lawmakers to tears and spur them into action. They should divert the bogus 37 billion meant for the much-critisised rehabilitation of the national assembly to the health sector, having in mind that cardiovascular causes of sudden death do not give time for medical tourism. By this, they will have saved the lives of the masses and inadvertently saving their own lives.

Ajenifuja Kayode

I hope they listen.

Cc. Lalasticlala...front page material. Ekiti state is burning...

Mod, please share post to front page, Ekiti needs help.

jaoniy2k:
Mod, please share post to front page, Ekiti needs help.

You for add pictures na

lalasticlala some people need thy snake move.
Compliments

Ekiti State workers need help and rescuing from Fayemi's high handedness.