Something should be done to save ABUTH Shika

Save A.B.U Teaching Hospital 

 

Nigeria should spend more on social infrastructure, including access to vaccines, and maternal health care - Bill Gates

Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital is in a dire condition and this isn’t being talked about. I don’t know why, the place is sadly silently becoming one of the worse place for a patient to live.

I understand the efforts the personals over there put, but in all honesty, the prestigious hospital is going down low and for so long now. No wonder even the Doctors went on strikes sometimes back.

Over a year ago, I made a report of what ABUTH was becoming. The situation has now worsen over the years. From lack of bed spaces to inadequate power and terrible dirty toilets & general surrounding and an overwhelming crowd of beggars welcoming whoever visits the hospital.

The condition is so horrible that patient’s sometime pay to fix their beds, at times sick kids are asked to sit on chairs or the floor because of the lack of these provisions. It’s so bad!

In wards, patients contribute money in the hospitals to buy diesel or instead remain in darkness. I was told this. I once narrated a story a Doctor told us, they had to perform a surgery operation, but they couldn’t find water in the hospital.

The toilets are so dirty and at times barely cleaned due to lack of water or so. The environment is just too dirty, not even for a hospital.

This is the same hospital that its management returns some part of its yearly allocation when there lack some modern machines, staff are poorly motivated, and it’s indeed terrible, if this happens to be true.

People are dying. I heard last time when the Minister of health came to Zaria, the Elders chose not to talk about the situation of the hospital. Let’s talk until the Govt and authorities do something. We have regrettably lost more than enough.

The Federal Government should look at the health and other human development needs. Efforts have been made by the National Assembly towards increasing the annual health budget! More is to be done if we are serious about ending medical tourism.

Simon Kolawole in his article “What can be done in 4 years” said: drugs, bed, equipment, and most of these can and should be taken care off if we have a serious Govt.

Is this too a much difficult thing to do in few years?  



Muhammad Malumfashi tweets @m_malumfashi

Nigeria and the dividents of democracy - A. Mati

BEYOND PARTY TRIVAILS AND 2019

The popular phrase “dividend of democracy” has being used since time immemorial, which is widely believed to be delivering on campaign promises that should leave people better than they were met in all gamut of life. However since the country’s sudden somersault to democracy in 1999 after years of military junta which many still share in memories. Through those years, power remained largely in the northern part of Nigeria. However, this part of the country is bedeviled with so many negative indices that kept drawing drawn the Region and the Nation at large, indices show that the Region has the highest number of out of school children especially girls which invariably result to higher level of illiteracy and hence poverty. 

Looking at the build up to 2019 elections, a lot of rhetoric’s are gathering momentum, some of which are far from reality, while some only confirm the already existing facts which is at public domain, whatever way it may take, what seems obvious is that either some of these government's policies are not properly implemented or they were never design to help avert some of these painful indices. However, I am opportune to work with a Non-Governmental Organization that focus on Girl child' education, seeing the strategies employed to bring interventions in some remote communities in Northern Nigeria. It is quite absorbed when I saw how girls in villages making some progress and changing their life for better. 

The journey of my experience began in a community that resides 2 to 3 kilometers outskirt Zaria inKaduna State, having in mind that I am to supervise the professionals hired to train the-out-of school girls on some basic entrepreneurship skills; phone repairs, bag making, soap making among many other skills. I saw how girls of ages between 15-20, mostly married were making some nice bags, while others were repairing phones, and all others. After having been to the community for some days spending much of my time interacting with the locals on issues relating to politics and how they perceived the intervention programs, quite amazing what I learned regarding how community involvement and community ownership can make a huge difference in terms of acceptability was interesting. 

The phrase “dividend of democracy” banged in my head and that made my heart ponder on what I read regarding the Present government “NEXT LEVEL” APC manifesto which has the photo of the President and his Vice with a phrase “Good for the Common Man” and the PDP Presidential candidate policy document titled “LET’S GET NIGERIA WORKING AGAIN”. Have we really enjoyed the dividend of democracy? 

The writer can be reached @ahmadmati1 on Twitter.

Peter Obi, North and the 2019 election’s dilemma

Obi, the North and the 2019

  

The 2019 elections is almost here with campaign about to kick-off officially on Sunday. In my honest opinion, either of APC or the PDP will produce the next President. I am not sure what other Candidates contesting against Buhari or PDP’s Atiku really want in 2019. The APC will retain its ticket of Buhari/Osinbajo after much speculations earlier this year. Atiku has chosen Peter Obi as his running mate, against the wishes of some prominent Igbo men, top politicians and even the PDP’s BOT organ has accused its candidate of lack of consultation. Whatever the case, Peter is PDP’s Vice candidate in 2019.

PDP will have to work hard to sell an Atiku candidature in the North, especially in a Buhari contest. The party will even have to do more to sell Atiku’s running mate who deported many Northerners during his controversial tenure as Anambra State Governor. This debate was recently stirred by no other person than Nasir El-Rufai, Kaduna State Governor who this year made attempts to incite his Senators against the people of Kaduna over their refusal to grant Kaduna State a World Bank loan. It reached another high when the Governor decided to strangely pick a woman but fellow Muslim as his running mate, his actions made those who accuse him of religious bigotry concluded that he is really one, something I don’t agree with, despite all I have against the Governor. 

It’s on the record that Peter Obi deported some Northerners when he was a Governor in Anambra, he forced them to move with Identity cards in their own Country, some traders were detained until one Governor from the North came to their rescue, this same action of the Northern Governor was enough reason to paint him bad in some other sides of the Country. In an article in 2013, Gimba Kakanda brilliantly captured how also Northerners who were studying at Imo College of Advanced Professional were deported from Imo State. Almost at the same time, Lagos Governor Raji Fashola deported Igbos back to their homes in Anambra, at the end of the day, Fashola had to apologise for his actions (ironically, after people like Peter Obi demanded), some groups of Igbos asked for a Billion Naira damages in court. 

It’s clear that Atiku and PDP are surrounded well by people such as Femi Fani-Kayode, Reno Omokri, Osita Chidoka and the likes, people who many in the North consider as their fierce Enemies over the years. In the other parts of the Country, Muhammad Buhari is feared and still portrayed as another Bigot, Religious extremist, Boko Haram sympathizer and Northern Supremacist. All this doesn’t end up meaning well for the Country as one. This Rwandan style of politics isn’t getting us anywhere. After all what happened in 2013, It’s on the record that OPC members murdered close to a hundred of Hausa men in Lagos while Bola Tinubu was a Governor in the late 2000. People like Lai Mohammed where in Government when all this happened. OPC had a young Kayode Ogudamisi as its Secretary then, Ogudamisi is one of Buhari’s loudest supporter right now. 

Zamfara State is one of the most security backward State currently in Nigeria, the Defense Minister Mansur Dan – Ali is from the State, and the former Minister of Defense of Nigeria (Aliyu Gusau) hailed from Zamfara too. Someone rhetorically asked, is Peter Obi the man organizing or refusing to stop the killings in Zurmi in Zamfara. The same Governor who deported Katsina men studying in his State is now Buhari’s APC Chairman of Governors. Those men whose members killed our brothers in Lagos under Tinubu are now telling us Buhari is their brother too. The Governor who asked us to chase our Senators because they have no origin in Kaduna State is throwing “Bigotry” blames on Obi. Osinbajo was a Lawyer and Commissioner of Justice when Hausa men were killed for no reason in Lagos, is he not the same Pastor set to run with Buhari again?

I once admitted my fears of Obi even before he was picked as PDP’s running mate, the same way I have fears of Babatunde Fashola and even Rochas Okorocha for what they did all before 2015 in their respective States – Just like Obi. Fashola is now a Super-Minister in Buhari’s Government, Imo Governor has been trying to position himself for the Nigeria’s top job too. Obi is now in the 2019 game. If things should work well for APC, the same Tinubu would like to be in the Aso Villa in 2023, or may be Fashola, Okorochas or El-Rufai. As far as I am concerned there are many Peter Obis and none of them really care about you and me, if you can open your eyes and look at all the writings.

"Najeriya kasa daya amma kowa ya san gidan Uban sa..." – Mallam Aminu Kano

Muhammad Malumfashi can be reached @m_malumfashi on Twitter.