By Isaac Olufemi Ojo
IBADAN — The Nigerian healthcare system has come under intense scrutiny, with stakeholders describing the current state of the sector as a reflection of a deeper societal decay and a loss of moral values.
This assertion was made today during the Cure My Nations initiative conference, with theme “HEALTH WITH DIGNITY FOR EVERY NIGERIAN:The role of government communities and institutions in safeguarding patients ‘ rights held at the House of Chiefs, Secretariat, Ibadan.
The event had experts highlighting the growing trend of medical negligence, the lack of basic facilities, and the urgent need for a shift in public consciousness regarding patient and caregiver rights.
Professor Adenike Ogunshe, a Professor of Microbiology and the National Women Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), lamented that the health sector has been plagued by impunity, leading to preventable deaths.
Sharing a deeply personal experience, Professor Ogunse recounted how she lost her younger sister due to the refusal of a hospital to attend to her in an emergency.
“It is disheartening that in recent times, the situation has worsened. You see healthcare professionals boldly telling families they cannot attend to a patient because they lack oxygen or other necessities,” she stated. “Why should a facility be called a hospital if it cannot provide basic survival tools like oxygen?”
Professor Ogunse further argued that Nigeria’s poor health indices—including high maternal and child mortality rates—are symptomatic of a failure in governance and a lack of empathy.
She warned that those in power, who have neglected the sector for decades, would eventually face divine judgment.
“You can’t point to one specialist hospital or significant investment in healthcare infrastructure despite being in office for years,” she noted. “Our leaders must realize that life has no duplicate.”
She also called on the media to pivot from being purely political praise-singers to becoming agents of change through investigative journalism, urging them to take their reportage to the grassroots to expose the rot affecting the common man.
Speaking at the same event, the Team Lead for Cure My Nation Initiative, Mr. Mashood Adewale, highlighted his organization’s efforts to curb medical negligence through the implementation of the Patient’s Bill of Rights.
Adewale, who founded the initiative after losing his mother to an alleged drug overdose in 2010, emphasized that the lack of awareness regarding legal rights is the primary cause of the continued trampling of citizens’ dignity in hospitals.
“Initially, the sector was characterized by widespread negligence. But since the emergence of the Patient’s Bill of Rights, things are beginning to change because healthcare providers now know they are being watched,” Adewale explained.
He noted that the initiative has launched a digital application that allows citizens to lodge complaints and track the progress of their grievances in real-time.
Both speakers were united in their critique of Nigeria’s current democratic process, which they described as transactional.
While speaking on the forthcoming democratic season, Professor Ogunshe urged Nigerians to stop trading their futures for short-term incentives, such as “a cup of rice,” every four years.
“The government is supposed to be scared of the people, but when we allow ourselves to be manipulated by petty inducements, we lose the power to hold them accountable,” Professor Ogunse added.
Moreover, Mr. Adewale concluded with a stern message for the government, urging them to increase healthcare budget allocations to meet the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation of 15 percent, noting that the current allocation is insufficient to address the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.
However, other stakeholders including the state MR AKINYOSOYE OLAWALE, the state director of the Federal Competition Protection Commission, Oyo State retierates the government’s stand in protecting the right of all citizens.
However, in the case of an infraction, he urged Nigerians to report by filing a report to complains@fccpc .gov.ng
The conference served as a clarion call for a grassroots movement to reclaim the dignity of the Nigerian citizen, both in the hospital and in the political arena.
