COVID-19 records deaths approaching 620,000 infections 15,500,000, with around 39,000 recognised Nigerian cases. ‘Social Distancing’ and masking are essential.
Nigeria’s Diplomatic Corps and CBN must engage the government and the National Assembly (NASS) on the dangerous Lebanon situation [pop 6.8m] before we fall into the same irreversible financial and insecurity cycle on a huge scale. Governance is not a joke but a heavy yoke requires daily adherence to the abandoned National Pledge and Oath which should end ‘or let my children be punished’. He may be happy to have his wife punished.
Last week’s column reported that every dollar stolen is a dead Nigerian baby, mother, child- for real. Ask Nigeria’s illegal migrants risking dangers and deaths in the Sahara Sun, Mediterranean Sea, razor-wire fence, organ donor threats, or prostitution in Fortress Europe. Ask the disillusioned doctors whose country failed them, forced them to think ‘abroad’, and leave Nigeria to the greedy political class. Nigerians derisively remind every single politician, official, and contractor that they would have long since fled Covid-19 with their families but for canceled flights. We must sincerely build up Nigeria’s infrastructure particularly the health service from LGA to state to federal government level. Who asks why Nigeria’s migrants risk their lives? Nigeria’s corruption is causing their migration and murder. The murderers – the politician, MDA, and civil servant and contractor thief. Politicians say they do not see people eating out of dustbins or dead children. They are CAC- ‘Cause and Consequence’ and ‘Ignorance is no excuse’ -a popular NASS insult. But politicians do see tomorrow’s dead the urchins at every street corner through the bulletproof glass in the NASS jeeps each paid for by depriving street corner urchins of boreholes and classrooms.
Buying cars with people’s money in the near-depression budget is a crime and punishable! Our doctors and other health professionals have frustratingly stood, like me, in needlessly shed blood, lamenting the dead, prescribed out-of-stock drugs, been attacked by relation’s thugs, operated without gloves and used a torch in operating theatres infested with bacterial bugs, and having to strike to get rights for their patients and themselves. Yet, such ‘rights’ are wrongly harvested by politicians wallowing in outlandish ‘Salaries and Perks’ which are SAPing us dry and which should be cut by 75%, to meet much lower international standards political remuneration. Their new avalanche of LGA taxes in the time of COVID will kill more. LGA thugs will anger more when LGAs are greedily expecting fattened direct allocations from the federal government. Their greed knows no bounds.
When greeted, remember you are not ‘surviving’ as many politicians, officials and contractors do by manipulation and even stealing billions from NSITF, NDDC, NNPC, and most MDAs which would never survive forensic audits. They apparently read the pledge to be ‘Unfaithful, Disloyal and Dishonest’ to Nigeria My Country!!!! Fellow Nigerians and Nigeria itself are not ‘surviving’. ‘We are dying’ and will die -dead- if we do not stop corruption and act our pledge daily ‘Today July 22 No Corruption in this Ministry, MDA or Contract’ and stop corruption for six months at least. We will not die because 58 or 200 doctors leave. Try to get a decent paying job in government as a doctor or specialist consultant! Endless waiting, connections, insults, and corruption!! They refuse to fill vacancies, divert the salary ‘elsewhere’. And when you get the job and request modern equipment, they answer ‘Are you the first doctor in Nigeria? Go and manage’. You then ‘manage’ government lapses and consequent suffering and untimely death. And when you strike- since the 1960s ‘they’ only listen in a strike, you are derided by PPP-patients, press, and public- as selfish!
Problematically the politician is now ‘know all’ replacing all other professionals but has largely become incompetent in solving citizen’s needs, particularly patient needs, and nationwide insecurity. Politicians consider medical treatment as waste and non-productive, consumptive. Did they approve the State Health Insurance Schemes to raid the warehoused funds as was done with salary and pension funds?
In Nigeria, there is a sinister scam to fit every sincere scheme! And we mistakenly blame 419 and yahoo-yahoo boys while ignoring their seniors. Governments mostly do not want to pay doctors, preferring ‘almost free’ NYSC doctors, keeping their own general hospitals as 19th-century colonial medical outposts and glorified referral centers to nearby teaching hospitals or the recently introduced Federal Medical Centres. Which governor would go to a state hospital? Yet annually each and every state has had mega-enormous funds, enough to annually propel citizens into ‘better than federal’ 21st Century education, health, roads, water and sanitation and other infrastructure for all corners of their own ethnic citizenry enclaves. Hatred of self. Governors in particular and LGA chairmen must be seen to love citizens.
A thief if caught will stop stealing immediately. Zero corruption for ministers, officials, and contractors is their decision. My good friend Niyi Osundare reminds me of my Guardian article titled ‘Wanted: Genuine ten percenters’ 9/2/1984. In the 1960-70s, 10% of corruption was the norm, divided among all involved. Now we have at least 10 levels each demanding 10% – leaving little for execution! My article on 21/2/1984 was ‘Wanted: A watchdog on drugs’. Eventually, NAFDAC happened in 1993/4. Today, Nigeria demands we live up to our pledge of zero corruption. Why must we settle for 10% corruption? Any higher and we all die. No country or business can develop with corruption above 10%.
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