Please Admit, Help get this article to the front page as a means to warn other Medical Pcm who are on the faast lanae to Borno state.
Hello everyone, my name is Dr Johnson and I am an ex-corp member who served my father’s land in Maiduguri, Borno state. I recently passed out with the 2016 batch A stream II of the Borno state corpers. The story I am about to share is for prospective health personnel corp members posted to Borno state and other health/medical graduates awaiting youth service nationwide. However, I am not meant to reveal my true identity, because of the anticipated backlash from affected authorities, but I have to on account of authenticity.
Of recent, I have been receiving a lot of calls from different colleagues awaiting NYSC orientation camp, most with inquires of the “pay” situation in Borno state among other things, because of the recent information on the social-media about the outrageous allowance being paid to corp health personnel serving in the state.
Permit me to go down the memory lane on the situation of things in Borno state previously as regards medical corp members. Our predecessors as at 2014/2015 were not paid a dime as allowance by the state government yet were expected to carry out their duty which was same as a medical officer being paid over #200,000 naira by the state government. Thou most of the health personnel as at then comprised mostly of indigenes not willing to try another state or married women who are being obliged to serve in same state as their spouse.
Fast-forward to situation in our own time. We were deployed to serve in Borno state but camped in Nasarawa state. As usual, we were begged to come and serve in the state with all sorts of promises but little did we know that a prior agreement has been made between the Borno state ministry of health and their indigenous medical corp members to pay them as medical officers (over #200k) while they work as corp doctors in the facilities belonging to the state. However, that was actually what they did without a dime being paid to the non-indigenes who served in the state facilities as well. This act necessitated the reposting of about two non-indigene doctors (a male and a female) to the Teaching hospital, but the likes of me wasn’t fortunate enough, so I applied for redeployment which was serially frustrated by some NYSC officials.
Talking of the present situation now, it’s no longer news that the Borno state currently pays the 2016 batch B stream I&II corp doctors and other health personnel well, and also accommodated them properly. This, from my observation and some background research, was as a result of their desperate need for manpower as at last year since even most of their indigenous corp doctors and medical officers were lost to the Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in borno state.
Even the stream II batch B were promised same VIP treatment meted on the stream I batch B counterparts, but they received none. I guess at this point you will be wondering what I meant by VIP treatment. Well, the batch B stream I sets received their first state allowance while even still in the camp which enticed a great number of them to stay back in the state. They were however given a very warm reception on arrival to Borno state, given all the basic amenities needed to live independently which included basic food stuffs, bags of rice, Duvet, money gift etc and last but not the least, were accommodated in comfortable settings.
None of this was done for the stream II batch B aside being given an accommodation, despite being promised as well by government and NYSC officials to be treated same as their counterparts. In fact, they even lost their month of March salary since they started work on the 12th of March but wasn’t paid that month salary. So from what was presumed by this act, probably the state felt they have gotten the adequate number of health workers needed from the stream I batch.
Coming to other PPAs in the state, there is the federal neuropsychiatric that pays well, but doesn’t give accommodation. It’s located at the baga road axis of the town. There is also a military hospital, which is not too bad. There is also a Teaching Hospital (UMTH) that pays highest but uses the corp member as if they are senior house officers. So if you have plans to write any examination during your service year, please don’t go for the UMTH if you must stay back. The NYSC officials have this habit of sending mostly indigenes there, who would be sent to their O&G section but whenever a non-indigene shows up, they would be sent straight to their hell-of-a-kind paediatric section which is filled with all sort of anti-corper sadist and seemingly unending work. One similar thing about the above mentioned PPAs is that they take just few corp members at a time, most likely 2 or 3 at a time.
The issue of the UMTH and their tribalism as regards to treatment of corp doctors and in terms of their absolute discrimination is being purposely left out in this article since it’s a topic for another discussion. It’s a miserable case of a federal hospital being run like a state-owned hospital by the duos of their kanuri CMAC and Fulani CMD, where you must be an arewa or at least a muslim before you would secure a placement there. A hospital that prefers to take corp members over resident doctors to do the work of residents, since corpers are temporary workers who can always be recycled annually while they wait for their indigenes to meet the requirements to be taken-in or worst still employ them (indigenes) as medical officers pending when their primaries result are ready. However, a lot of people with primaries who applied are not even shortlisted for interview. All this are being perfectly orchestrated under the guise of insurgency scaring people away, whereas applications troop-in in doves, which are being confiscated or left unattended to without a connection backup to follow suit.
A lot of questions have remained unanswered concerning the welfare of both the current and prospective medical corp members who had a choice to redeploy to any state of choice but choosed to stay back and serve their fathers land in full capacity in Borno state not minding the crazy weather, scotching temperature, devastating sand storm, language barrier, filth-filled and flies dominated town. Who travelled miles to the far northeast Borno state popularly known for its heavily infested insurgency and IDPs, only to be met with such kind of discrimination and ill-treatment.
Although a lot of people choose Borno state as a last lifeline to get redeployed to their place of choice free of charge, since getting to redeployment aside on health and marital grounds cost nothing less than #45,000 via Abuja connections (DG directive) but this article is mainly for those who innocently choose the state as regard the recent rumor on the social media proclaiming it as one of the best paying states, leaving out likes of Nasarawa, Kaduna, Kano, Delta and Ondo state who really have the welfare of their medical corp members at mind.
It’s just a means of bringing to light the heinous act being played out on us, because while in the camp, you will be promised all sort of mind-blowing treatment and fantastic pay and how nice and warmly the city is “but all na wash”. Some years back, some medical corp members do come around because of the high tiding of the NGOs in the town, but unfortunately things are not like that anymore. The NGOs are near-filled up and the likely remaining spaces are being struggled among few doctors here trying to make end meet. Pardon me on my anonymous stance, but that’s because of the after effect anticipated in reaction to this article.

Thank you very much. You've just saved a life.