29 Dec 2008 |
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My first encounter with him was sometime in August this year. And it was not even a face-to-face encounter. Every week, we get scores of mails from people who need help. But as much as we want to help, there is just a limit to what we can do. We definitely do not have the resources to meet everyone’s needs. My boss was not in town when his e-mail came in, so I was at a loss as to what to do. There are some requests I can respond to even when my boss is not around, but what Ahmed Mohammed was asking for was way beyond me, and even beyond what my organization could afford. Yet, it was difficult to turn down his request. I really cannot say how long he has had a problem with his kidney, but he was asking for N6,000,000 (six million naira) to do a transplant in India because, according to him, that was the cheapest he could get anywhere. And unlike other cases where one could drag his feet, I did not need to be told that this was a matter of life and death. When I brought up the issue, on my boss’ return, I quite expected him to say that whatever we could give him would not amount to much considering how much he was asking for. But his response shocked me! “We have to help him,” he said. “How?” I asked him. “Six million naira is a lot of money, but this involves a human life. Wow, six million naira! We do not have that kind of money.” Then I waited patiently for him to tell me what to tell the young man. “Why not get your friends in the media involved,” he said after thinking about it for a moment. “Let us see if we can get some kind-hearted Nigerians to join hands with us to help him.” Well, I was not particularly thinking of how to drum up support to save the life of this young man, but the idea sounded good to me. So off I went, in search of my friends in the media, whom I rarely get in touch with except there is a problem. But it took me two days before I could speak with Mr Azubuike Ishiekwene (a former editor of PUNCH newspapers, who is now an executive director in the same organization) and Simon Kolawole (an editor with THISDAY newspapers). Although they both sounded concerned, it turned out that there was not much they could do because of their organizations’ policy on such issues. Mr Kolawole was not sure why there was such a policy but Mr Ishiekwene explained to me that it was because of the troubles they had had with relatives of such patients over money. Mr Ishiekwene however directed me to their Saturday editor who would consider this particular case on its own merit, while Mr Kolawole referred me to his editor friend at SUN newspapers. I spoke with the reporters who were assigned to handle the case in both newspapers and Daily Sun published the story on Tuesday, November 18, 2008. If I thought help was on the way after that, I was mistaking. A chat with Ahmed Mohammed two weeks after his story was published revealed that no one had responded. That brought us to square one, even as his condition deteriorated. A distress call from the young man a week or two later was all it took to practically unsettle me. His case had gone so bad he was having problems passing off waste products. Then I sat down again to discuss with my boss, not quite sure what to expect. “Call the medical director of the hospital handling his case,” he said. “Tell him we are interested in the case and find out the state of things. Please tell him we are not in any way related to him and we do not even know him. We just feel we should help him.” I immediately called Dr Okey Onuzo, the owner of Life Support Medical Centre, who confirmed, after going through their records, that Ahmed Mohammed is an outpatient in his hospital. He confirmed that his case had become terribly bad because he had not been coming for dialysis and had not been taking his drugs. This, Mohammed said, was because he could not afford the costs which Dr Onuzo confirmed run into about N110,000 (one hundred and ten thousand naira) per week. Our next step was to have Discovery for Men, the platform on which Ahmed Mohammed got in touch with us, sponsor some adverts in the media asking some kind-hearted Nigerians to join us in giving the young man the needed help. But after my discussions with Dr Onuzo, who believes in the ant-hill approach, I realized another effort in the media might just be futile. According to Dr Onuzo, it is easier to get 1,000 people to give N5,000 (five thousand naira) each than get 10 people to give N500,000 (five hundred thousand naira) each. “Even if you have N6,000,000 (six million naira) right now,” Dr Onuzo told me, “the young man cannot go for a transplant because he needs to be in health first.” That is precisely why my boss, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya, who is the president of Discovery for Men, has approved N450,000 (four hundred and fifty thousand naira) for the young man to resume treatment at the Life Support Medical Centre. This is to enable him be in health for a kidney transplant. But where will the N6,000,000 (six million naira) for the kidney transplant come from? I honestly have no idea. My boss believes it will come one way or the other. He says we can and will do more but definitely do not have the wherewithal to shoulder the entire cost. On my part, I am hoping and praying that those who have the means will step forward and help save Ahmed Mohammed from imminent death as the money we have deposited in the hospital will only take him till the third or so week of January 2009. Pastor Taiwo Odukoya does not want any donation sent to us or Discovery for Men; he would rather it is sent directly to the young man or paid to Life Support Medical Centre in Lagos. We are working on the possibility of the medical centre liaising with the hospital in India where the kidney transplant will be done and dispensing whatever money is realized. 
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