Unfortunate as it was, the accident last Friday, involving Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha raises fundamental issues of governance; not the least of which are the leadership question, propriety of acts of public officials, the judicious use of public funds and the abusive misuse of authority by the police. Even more unfortunate is the fact that it is not limited to Imo State. These recurring issues permeate the entire gamut of governance and portray Nigeria as a country with deeply dysfunctional institutions where bizarre things can happen.
Governor Okorocha was reported to have sustained head injuries in the accident involving his official car and a privately owned Mercedes Benz car. The governor and his entourage, it was learnt, were on an official tour when the incident occurred. According to official sources, the governor was occupying the front seat with his driver when his SUV had a head-on collision with the Mercedes Benz, which was alleged to have run into the Governor’s convoy. The governor was immediately rushed to St. Mary’s Children & Community Hospital, Umuowa, Orlu, where he received treatment.
Okorocha, who later emerged from the hospital with a bandaged head, confirmed that he was strong enough to be discharged, but added that he would seek proper medical attention abroad as a result of the impact of the accident on him. Meanwhile, the driver of the Mercedes, who also sustained minor injuries and was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre for treatment, was afterwards arrested by the Police for endangering the life of “His excellency”. We demand the immediate release of the driver pending an investigation. Surely, nothing like this happens in any civilized and truly democratic country.
As the governor recuperates, the probability that the accident could have been avoided is regrettable. This was one accident too many, aided apparently by over-speeding and a degree of recklessness that governors’ convoys are notoriously reputed for in this country. It represents the latest in a series of such incidents across the country. The convoy of Governors Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State, Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State, Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, among others, have been involved in road accidents at various times, often with the loss of innocent lives. Sadly enough, the convoy mentality is not peculiar to governors. Other top government officials at various levels also travel in usually over-bloated and over-speeding convoys.
The resort to convoys is often not unconnected with the insecurity in the country. But again, many governors are largely responsible for their failure to deliver on their campaign promises. Upon assuming office, their only preoccupation is primitive accumulation, often at the expense of the citizens. Worse still, they display stupendous opulence and flamboyance that are inexplicable and irreconcilable with the poverty prevailing in their States. In their own crude estimation, the only way to escape popular discontent and possible wrath of the people is through the increasing enlargement and securitization of their convoys; a strategy that is wholly futile.
The auto accident which caused no serious injury to the governor did indeed have its flip side, with Okorocha’s insistence on seeking “proper” medical attention abroad. The governor has publicly admitted that he is okay; an apparent attestation to this was the fact that he walked himself to the hospital after the accident, and felt strong enough to be discharged after receiving treatment for the minor injuries he sustained. So why the foreign trip which will just be a waste of taxpayers’ money?
Without prejudice to the governor’s right to seek proper medical care, it is a notorious fact that most of those who seek medical attention outside Nigeria are senior public officials whose duty it is, in the first instance, to raise the standard of health care delivery in the country to what obtains in those countries they frequently visit. Their unwholesome attitude no doubt is strengthened by the fact that the cost is free for them. The attitude of Okorocha in this respect is detestable and despicable.
We therefore suggest that he reconsiders the planned overseas trip, if for no other reason than that local doctors have given him a clean bill of health after the accident. The frivolous trip represents a clear case of abuse of office, which is not only condemnable, but also totally unacceptable. We recall that sometime ago, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), expressed concern over the alarming rate at which Nigerians seek overseas’ medical care. According to the NMA, over 5,000 Nigerians travel to India and other countries monthly for medical treatment; and estimates that Nigeria loses over $500m annually to this unhealthy practice, with $260m going to India.
The association challenged political leaders to queue with ordinary Nigerians to seek medical care and conduct health checks in public hospitals. If Okorocha and other political leaders heed this call, there will be a drastic reduction in the number of those seeking medical attention abroad, and this will bring in its wake a significant drop in the foreign exchange expended on this anomaly. Government ordinarily should spend $500m equipping public hospitals and raise them to world class standards with specialists.
The tragic irony is that most of the hospitals Nigerian leaders travel to, for medical attention abroad are manned by Nigerian doctors some of who were trained in various teaching hospitals at home, before they migrated out of the country due to poor working conditions. The case of the Nigerian doctor who was flown from London to Germany to miraculously raise the First Lady, Patience Jonathan from the dead; after all European doctors had written her off is a reminder, if at all any was needed that Nigerian doctors are amongst the best in many parts of the world.
Nigerian hospitals, due to years of neglect, have become ghosts of themselves. And that is the risk ordinary Nigerians are exposed to. Many Nigerians have been sent to untimely deaths on account of the decrepit state of local hospitals. At a time in this country, the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan reached the towering and enviable height of being the 7th best hospital in all commonwealth countries. A government that has its eyes on history will strive to re-enact this feat on public hospitals. What is required is a committed and selfless leadership.
President Goodluck Jonathan needs to address this anomaly quickly, not only for its implication for the health of Nigerians, but also for its potential political mileage and goodwill. For a start, government should embargo all foreign medical treatment for its officials regardless of their status. Those who, in their judgment, think only foreign treatment will meet their needs should do so at their own expense. This will curb frivolous trips abroad and halt the major drain it has constituted on scarce resources. The action would no doubt concentrate government’s attention on Nigerian hospitals, which need adequate and thorough face-lift, away from the decrepit and comatose infrastructures that have rendered service delivery in those hospitals prostrate.
Meanwhile, we wish Governor Okorocha speedy and full recovery, so he will be in a position to tackle the matters arising from his accident
Huhuonline.com Editorial
