27 May 2008 |
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For Whom the
“No man is an island, entire of itself; Everyman is a piece of the continent ……..any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved with mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom The bell toils; it toils for thee!
The above meditation by en a harbinger of needless deaths borne out of a repeated
cycle of bad and insensitive leadership, endemic corruption, badly maintained
social infrastructures, dearth of adequate and modern medical facilities and
lack of every decent amenity a modern and progressive state should boast of. It
is so bad in
In an age of human history, when modern nations are boasting of stupendous
advancements in medical practice, what
Not too long ago, Nigerian doctors were accused of misdiagnosing President
Yar’adua, treating him for asthma instead of Churg-Strauss syndrome which he is
said to suffer from. In the case of Sunny Okosuns, his colon cancer was not
diagnosed for many years until it became too advanced to respond to available
remedies. It took the correct diagnosis to be made in a western country – alas,
when it was too late! What did Yar’adua do to safeguard his life? He ran to
The state of our healthcare delivery has gone through many policy
initiatives as documented by the World Health Organisation in its Nigerian
regional reports. The strategic thrust of our healthcare policy is to achieve
health for all Nigerians. The policy was promulgated in 1988 and revised in
2004, borne out of consultation with various stakeholders to reflect new
realities and trends in the national health situation.
Despite all these lofty goals, the fact remains that the private sector
provides 65.7% of our healthcare delivery with a palpable lack of collaboration
between the public and private sector. The resultant effect is a chaotic and
ineffective form of healthcare delivery system. It is so bad that the average
life expectancy at birth in
While the main thrust of the public sector is primary care or preventive
health, the private sector remains mostly unregulated and uncoordinated. The
government has refused to invest in and encourage the principle of partnership
in the private sector. Really scarce resources are individually being invested
in establishing sub-standard health facilities, leading to proliferation of
mushroom clinics and hospitals. This is borne out of our cultural paranoid
psyche which basically ensures mistrusts, even in business ventures.
For a government that fully realises its inadequacy in meeting with all the
health demands of its citizens, the active encouragement of standardised
private sector involvement should be a priority. This entails overcoming the
identified cultural barriers and creating the right environment for
partnerships via easy access to financial, diagnostic, infrastructural and
other forms of support and encouragement for those providers willing to pull
resources together and go into partnership. This would discourage the current
“one-man” syndrome of providers and eliminate mushrooming and quackery in the
provision of healthcare by the private sector. This suggestion, I believe,
would also go a long way in ensuring the effectiveness and success of the
moribund national health insurance scheme. I must submit the private sector
involvement in healthcare delivery in
It is indeed a season of anomie for
The occasion of the celebration of the life and times of our dear Evangelist
Sunny Okosuns could serve as a sober reflection on the Nigerian state. It was a
state borne with promises and potentials but yet to find its glories after
almost five decades of independence. Is it any wonder that the skilled and
unskilled are on a massive migration out of the country? Is anyone surprised at
the scale of this voluntary “second slavery”? In the field of arts, the good
ones are out. Come to the streets of
In conclusion, I need to state that this is not a dissertation for a
doctorate degree nor is it a political discourse. Rather, it is an overview of
the functional Nigerian state, what it could have been and what it is. It is a
lamentation for an unusual hybrid, a conglomeration of the good and the bad,
the pious and the not so pious. It is an expression of puzzle, an inner cry of
hurt and disbelief. It is an expression of bewilderment at the complete hold of
negativity on a nation.
For Sunny Okosuns, the musical journey that started many years ago has
definitely come to an end. The beautiful voice will sing no more. It used to be
a lively competition in those days. What with the golden voice of Bongos Ikwe
and the sweet melodies of Okosuns. When Bongos abandoned the musical field,
Sunny continued with his lyrical war on apartheid and social ills in
Sunny Okosuns will be greatly missed. May his soul achieves eternal rest and
may light perpetual shine on him. I will forever cherish our brief interaction
at
Dr Olusegun Fakoya
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