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admin · Site Admin Joined: 25 May 2007 Posts: 5442

Banning Overseas Medical Treatment for Nigerian Pubic Officials

http://nigeriaworld.com/columnist/ajayi/111505.html
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May we be strengthened with the ability, willingness and capabilities to be good ambassadors of Nigeria contributing to its uplifting, rather than its detriment. - Cxsm

admin · Site Admin Joined: 25 May 2007 Posts: 5442

Public Officials Should Be Banned from Using Public Funds for Overseas Medical Treatment

I agree with the suggestion by Dr. Lambo and Ex-President Obasanjo that such trips at the expense of the government should be banned. I remember reading the article on this subject matter while in Nigeria and giving it a kudos, as it was one of the topics I'd wanted to write about. I stumbled across it again today, and decided I might as well voice my opinion.

My take on the subject matter is that IF the public officials are asked to use the medical facilities available in Nigeria, then they would be better and more speedily motivated to improve and expand the facilities available to the masses in Nigeria. They would also be motivated to ensure that adequate and safe medication and other required medical resources are made available nationwide.

When a man can simultaneously enjoy the benefits of being a public official, if unmonitored enrich his pocket from resources supposed to be made available to the pubic and jet-set abroad to get not only needed medical treatment, but also his medical check-ups, at the expense of the public, he'll be quick to forget that he's in public office to serve the public, and therefore care less about the welfare of the public, but make every effort possible to secure and enhance his. That is not counting the trips that are deemed medical while they are indeed vacations at the expense of the government and it's people.

This is the gnawing problem that has caused public officials to disregard and defy Presidential orders to curtail unnecessary and excessive spending, the likes of which prompted Senators to approve exorbitant furniture allowances of at least N5 million to themselves contrary to the past Presidents objections, without a care for their excesses and the impact on the public they were elected to serve. Such attitude of entitlement is what causes politicians to become career politicians to secure their extraction and siphoning of public funds to enrich their private pockets.

Public officials need to be curtailed and disciplined, not just given a slap on the wrist, but compelled to make restitution for all misappropriations whenever they are found crossing the line. This includes curtailing their expensive medical trips that are charged to the government. If such officials want to embark on such journeys at their own personal expenses then it is their personal business, but if even such expenditures deemed private are found to have emanated from misappropriations of government funds, they should be appropriately disciplined.

It is not in the interest of the average citizen, if he cannot get adequate medical care, while those in power to make such medical treatment available nationwide are doing absolutely nothing or too little to make sure there are medical facilities that can cater to the average citizen's medical needs.

Improvements can be made to the medical facilities we have in Nigeria, power supply can be enhanced to enable those who have chosen to practice in Nigeria, while the skills and experiences of Nigerian medical practitioners abroad can be harnessed to benefit Nigerians in Nigeria. Also, incentives should be given to Nigerian medical doctors both in Nigeria and abroad, so they have the willingness and patriotism to stay or return to Nigeria to benefit their own citizens.

I for one was glad to read that England's NHS [National Health Service] recently decided to close its doors to new doctors trained abroad, so they could have room for newly trained British doctors in their system. Though most of the doctors affected are Australians, Indians and South Africans, at least this might force these doctors to begin to think about returning to their own home countries to provide the medical services that their own very citizens require.

If this is the Case, then there would not be a need for Nigerian citizens rich or poor to fly abroad, or in the case of the poor, to be unavailable to fly abroad for medical treatment.

Nigeria has a lot of good doctors practicing worldwide, and it's time it harnesses the skills and experiences of these doctors [most of whom were initially trained in Nigeria to begin with], to assist the competent doctors we have in Nigeria. It is not an issue of having quack doctors in Nigeria, but an issue of having insufficient doctors to cater to the growing population. Besides, the insufficiency of well trained hands is what leads to the generation of quacks who want to exploit the poor who cannot access or afford good medical care.

Brain drain contributed hugely to the mass exodus of Nigerian professionals in various fields, including medicine, but it's time we Nigerians begin to return to Nigeria or at least visit as often as we can to contribute whatever we feasibly can to our nation, instead of contributing solely to other nations and then wondering why ours is not getting better.

Cxsm
16th March '08

© Cxsm 2008 All Rights Reserved

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May we be strengthened with the ability, willingness and capabilities to be good ambassadors of Nigeria contributing to its uplifting, rather than its detriment. - Cxsm