A Tale of Non-existent Government-owned Hospitals in Nigeria

Posted by admin

June 11, 2009

It is sad that even sick persons in Nigeria try as much as possible to avoid visiting government-owned hospitals in Nigeria for reason which this write-up shall disclose thereafter. The state of Nigerian Hospitals is so terrible that sick persons prefer to take “Agbo” (Native medicines) and assume themselves whole than have them taken to any of the hospitals. The problem of these Hospitals is made exacerbated by the fact that almost every individual voted in as a governor in any of the 36 states of the federation including Abuja would do everything within his ability to escape the development of the Health sector in that state.

People assume that the government-owned Hospitals are supposed to be places of solace are indeed mistaken. The poor state of these Hospitals by far contradicts this reasoning. Anyone patient who considers himself wealthy will almost cry out to be taken out of the hospital if he unconsciously discovers himself in any of these hospitals in Nigeria.

The problems with government-owned hospitals begin with the attitude of Doctors and Nurses who usually are egoistic. A Nurse in any one public Hospital in the country especially Lagos will almost feel perturbed if her attention is called upon. It is so terrible to see patients or their family members trade words with Nurses in these hospitals. Nurses in Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Idi-Araba, General Hospital, Lagos Island and Badagry, and National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi are known to address patients very discourteously and courtly. Patients are usually welcomed with this attitude, the result therefore is those patients and their next of kin while registering their complaints do so with frets.

It is therefore like death is readily knocking at one’s door when he is particularly referred to any one government-owned hospital in NIgeria from Sokoto to Lagos. A situation that makes the hospital record low turn in of patients except in very critical conditions.

Hardly would you walk into any of these hospitals and not find Nurses quarreling with either patients or visitors. You get so sick when that urgent attention is not given to you. The attitude of Nurses at the National Orthorpaedic Hospital simply tells you that it is your fault for bringing your accident victim to them and that the authority lies with them on whether to receive your victim or have them rejected by referring them other hospitals. Patients are simply treated like the rejected in the society and the government has to do something about the situation.

It is for this reason that Nigerians generally regard government-hospitals as Mortuaries, forbidding going any where near these Hospitals, a situation which sees Chemists and Pharmacies being patronized more than our Hospitals. A second problem of government-owned Hospitals is inadequate personnel in the various departments of these Hospitals and lack of medical equipment.

The National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi Lagos established by British colonial Government 1943/1944 as Rehabilitation Camp for returning soldiers from World War II in December 1945 takes the lead in unfair treatment of patients and their next of kin. Anyone quite willing to see impatient Nurses at work should take a visit to the hospital. The hospital is in fact more of a revenue generation centre for the government as the entire hospital speaks more of payment of money to the government by Patients more than urgent attention for victims. I am still waiting for somebody to make our government realize that Nigeria was only fortunate to inherit such a large hospital from the colonial government otherwise it remains doubtful if any one single Nigerian government can effectively think of establishing such a hospital in this present era.

It is therefore a shame that this hospital in particular has been converted to a revenue generating centre for the government where the government hopes to feast on its victim-citizens. The Bank has at least two Banks and two ATM machines which makes it mandatory for accident victims requiring emergency treatments to make payments before they can be treated in the first place. Patients admitted for 6 days go home with nothing less than 21 tellers with which they have made payments to the hospital management. “Go and pay this moment in the Bank” is all you hear as you shed tears. Every visitor in the hospital is seen wearing long faces even as he complains to nobody. The health sector like education in Nigeria is in shameful condition.

Even our leaders are known to travel far to get medical treatments abandoning what they call specialist hospitals in the country to their poor citizens who have no options. The state of hospitals like National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi has continued to threaten the Beggars, Destitute and generally the less-privileged who are often abandoned by the varanders of hospitals because they are incompetent of taking charge of themselves financially and are left at their own mercies. A patient was once told in one of these hospitals that he was only resting and after doing so, he would leave not treated because he had no money to immediately take care of himself. Should our government allow such a patient to die in this circumstance even if our private hospitals will just because he has not made immediate payments to the hospital?

This arise the question on what Nigeria actually owes us as citizens because we cannot gain anything from the country. What happens when we cannot have water, good roads, uninterrupted power supply, affordable housing, standard education, “Garri,” “Fufu,” and now free health care in the country not even security if Bakassi indigenes woke up one morning to discover that they have suddenly become Camerounians?

Then there must be something wrong somewhere.

Emeka Esogbue hails from Ibusa, Delta State, Nigeria. He is a Historian and International Relations graduate with lots of tremendous published and unpublished works.emekaesogbue@yahoo.com
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