I have been thinking. The London and Paris medical tourism jaunt of our leaders have been on my mind.
Two of our past leaders are in London at the same time for Medical attention, the present one allegedly frequently goes to Paris for the same purposes and many members of our ravenous elites are jumping in and out of these cities and many others for the same purposes and I wonder
What exactly is the impossibility of just building one major world-class facility in the country that can even just cater for them and save us all these scarce funds being expended on these journeys.
This thing is nothing but crazy and its just so simple o
The single minded obsession with the Lagos Calabar road in the midst of paucity of funds could also be deployed in fostering on the nation these hospitals for their own purposes not even for us o
My own is that the savings from local based presidential treatment centers can now be deployed into the building and maintaining of primary health centres that would now be used to serve the masses
Attimes, you would think its cotton wool that is in the head of these leaders.
They proudly rush out there for medical attention and gleefully grant press interviews and smile to the cameras as they shamelessly thank the dutiful personnel of those institutions for such world class care
They forget that you can have the same kind here at the cost of just five jeeps in their long convoys of a hundred cars and more
Its so sad that mortality rate in Nigeria is sinking fast and Nigerians are now forced back to natural ways of prevention is better than cure cos anything above malaria is certain death
Its ironic that same Muhammed Buhari in his first coup plotting speech to us mentioned our hospitals as being mere consulting clinics and comedically, two terms later as a civilian President the local Hospitals are no more mere consulting clinics but have been taken over by weeds and goats leading to him running away to London to breath his last.
Ironically, these leaders despite their access to the very best the world has to offer, never really enjoy the best in health
From Yardua, thru Buhari to our present, they all look frail, emaciated and subjected to very deeply concerning apptitude to their health costing the Nigerian tax payer billions of Naira just to keep them at minimal levels of health.
For Buhari, his passing at just two years after service goes to confirm that he had just turned the National coffers into a huge HMO cos its very coincidental that he maintained a semblance of good health throughout his tenor – except that time when he spent over 100days in London- and suddenly passed when he was no longer the aporoving authority.
For me, the lesson that should be learnt from his passing is the very urgent need for our leaders to replicate these franchises that they use abroad here for themselves.
Secure the franchise, come and build them here, save the fx and then deploy the savings towards primary health care
I am not saying you should build for us. Build for urselves and your family and other dependants so that the billions spent on international medical jaunts will now be spent locally and within the economy
Yes, it can be done na. How much was used to renovate Shettima’s lodge, how much was used to refit or is to it buy a new Presidential jet?
A fraction can be used in replicating that London Hospital complete wuth staffing and amenities in a walled up part of Aso Rock where entry requirements would just be a membership card of the ruling party, an ID card of the Presidency and a signed permission to use the facility from the desk of the President complete with a seal made up of the coat of arms
If you won’t pity us, pity yourselves.
This whole thing is no longer funny, it’s a serious National tragedy where two former Heads of State are holed up in another country for medical reasons not that they went to watch a premiership match
Come and beat me
Duke of Shomolu