NMA Decries Political Game Played With Suntai's Health ...Flays Lack Of Patronage By Nigerians

Speaker of the house of Rep, Aminu Tambuwaland NMA President Osahon Enabulele

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has registered its displeasure over the political card-game being played with the health status of Taraba State Governor, Mr. Danbaba Suntai.

Making its position known during its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Sokoto, northern Nigeria, on August 30, 2013, the body called on the political gladiators in the state to allow the constitution prevail.

At the meeting with the theme: "Promoting Medical Check-ups As A Key to Preventing Sudden Death", the Speaker of Nigeria's House of Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, was decorated as the face of healthy living and health check-ups.

"While NMA heartily welcomes back home the Governor of Taraba State, the Association advises the parties involved in the quagmire to sheath their swords and abide with the provisions of the Nigerian constitution," NMA said.

NMA called on the government to give its members the privilege of examining and ascertaining the medical fitness of Mr. Suntai, who is currently being portrayed as being mentally fit by some private interests to govern the state, adding that the body would also like to examine some other public office holders to ascertain their health status and determine if they are capable of discharging their official duties.

"NMA is very prepared to make available her expert members who are professionals in various fields of medicine to constitute a medical board to resolve the lingering question of the medical fitness of the Governor and any other public or political office holder," it said.

The NMA restated its previous call on the National Assembly and the Nigerian Government to urgently establish the 'Office of the Surgeon-General of Nigeria' which would formally bear the task of independently assessing the medical fitness of public and political office holders to thus save the country of "great embarrassment and distress".

To this, NMA said, "The NMA also uses this opportunity to restate her patriotic call on the National Assembly and the Federal Government to urgently establish the Office of the Surgeon-General of Nigeria who would ordinarily have been saddled with the responsibility of independently assessing the medical fitness of public and political office holders, and thus save the nation the great embarrassment and distress caused by the unanswered question of the medical fitness or otherwise of our public and political leaders."

Suntai who had remained marooned at the governor’s lodge with the two medical personnel that accompanied him from the United States, as well as his younger brother, Babangida, has been declared unfit to govern the state by members of the state House of Assembly, during a visit to him after his return from the United States of America and Germany.

The governor had written a letter to the Assembly intimating it of his return and ability to resume his duties as governor, but the lawmakers had, after a visit to the recuperating governor doubted the governor's authorship of the letter and instructed the Deputy Governor, Alhaji Garba Umaru, to continue as the acting governor of the state.

Meanwhile, in a bid to find a lasting solution to the festering political crisis in Taraba State, President Goodluck Jonathan has set up a committee to wade into the crisis.

In the same vein, the leadership of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will also send a delegation to the state with a view to nipping the crisis in the bud.

The also doctors listed insecurity in the country as another threat to activities of the profession.

"While NEC appreciated the efforts of the Federal Government to address insecurity in the country, she however observed that a lot still needs to be done to arrest insecurity, kidnapping and other forms of criminality in Nigeria", the body said, adding that it was shocked to learn of the gruesome murder of the Medical Director at Federal Medical Centre, Azare, Bauchi State, Dr. Musa Muhammad Dambam, murdered alongside the village head, recently.

The body also expressed digust over the lack of patronage by Nigerians, especially public officials who are in the habit of travelling abroad for medical treatment.

It said that its personnel are neglected over minor cases such as medical check ups, pointing out that there are many experts available in the country to treat many of the ailments citizens of the country scramble abroad for.

NMA said it discovered that sudden deaths in the country were mostly due to Nigerians' poor attitude at checking their health statuses regularly.

The doctors tasked Mr. Tambuwal to use his good office to influence other public officials to always call for their services within the country as well as help in the improvement of the health sector.

It urged the Nigerian Government to set aside a date in form of public holiday for all citizens to check their health statuses.

Also in attendance were Governor of Sokoto State, Mr. Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko; the Sultan of Sokoto and President of the Nigerian National Supreme Council for Islamic affairs, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, while the Minister of Health, Mr. Onyebuchi Chukwu, was represented at the occasion.

NMA, after the meeting, issued a communique in which many issues were raised, including the current unresolved crisis in the health sector, inauguration of the Governing Board of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria
(MDCN) to fast-track justice in the dental sub-sector of the medical profession and implementation of the centralized Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

Other issues addressed in the communique are underfunding of training of resident doctors, necessity for public-private partnership in health service delivery and insecurity in the country.

The body also urged the Nigerian Government to resolve the crisis in the health sector and the IPPS mode of paying salaries to the doctors.

President of the NMA, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, who signed the communique, said the IPPS has caused delay in the payment of salaries to the doctors, adding that the doctors were being owed three months arrears as a result of it.
Enabulele called on the government to pay the doctors within 21 days and resolve the delay in the system.

"Since the commencement of the implementation of IPPIS in federal public hospitals it has greatly undermined the welfare of doctors many of whom have had to endure over three months of non-payment of salaries due to gross irregularities in the implementation of IPPIS," the communique stated.