How Obasanjo and the striking doctors killed my friend!

How does one begin a sordid tale like this? How does one begin to recount the atrocities of a nation that derives joy from murdering its best people in their primes? How do I relate how the striking doctors colluded with the Nigerian government to kill my friend ?
How do I narrate the events that led to the death of AbdHameed Olasupo Agberemi on March 5, 2007 at the young age of 32.

Make no mistake about it; I am not attempting to blame God. Neither do I term AbdHameed’s death as untimely, for every man has his destined time, and when it is up, he will go. I am a Muslim, and I believe that to Allah we belong and to Him is our final destination. However, I also realize that something will be the cause of one’s eventual death, and in this case, the causes are inexcusable, as they depict a failure of the Nigerian system.

For those of us who knew AbdHameed very well,or Supo as his secondary school friends called him, it was a privilege knowing him. He was a gift to our generation. Right from his undergraduate days at Obafemi Awolowo University, where he studied Food Science and Technology, all who came into contact with him were amazed at the depth of his intelligence and the width of his thinking. When he put pen to paper, we could only marvel at the strength of his convictions, and his mastery of the written word.
It was no surprise that he never practiced as a Food Technologist for he was destined for greater things.

Right out of school, he formed an NGO, that championed women and children’s rights, a feat for which he was acknowledged both at home and abroad, culminating in a Research Fellowship at the prestigious Emory University Law School, Atlanta.
AbdHameed made several trips to the Hague in Netherlands and to various conferences around the world presenting the products of his scholarship, which some of us were privileged to read.

However, despite our entreaties for AbdHameed to join us abroad, he always chose to return home after his trips, saying Nigeria was the place for him, and he had bright hopes for the future in Nigeria.
Based on this, AbdHameed finished his Masters program in Peace and Conflict at the University of Ibadan, and enrolled for a PhD at the same school but it was not to be.

He started losing faith in the country in October  last year when he had a close encounter with armed robbers in Lagos, which he described thus in his words “Robbers made away with my laptop (containing thousands of documents being my intellectual effort since September 2003, last backup on CDs was in July 2006); my phone and so many contact numbers; flash disk; my international passport with so many visas since 2001; other documents on me at the time, and of course, cash.”
It was a tough loss, but one which he prayed and planned to overcome.

However, his final journey began late December without any warning. He lived in Eleyele, Ibadan with his wife, a practicing lawyer and their daughter. He left the house on the fateful day and made to cross the road to enter a commercial bus. Having checked to ensure there was no oncoming vehicle, he started to cross, when from nowhere, a commercial bus driver at top speed driving on the wrong side of the one-way road crashed into him, inflicting serious head injuries and sending him into an unconscious state.

He was rushed to UCH, Ibadan where he spent two weeks in coma before regaining consciousness. Since then he had been undergoing several surgeries and was getting better.  I had even called several times and spoken to him on phone, and apart from some slight slur in his voice, he sounded almost like the AbdHameed we had grown to admire and respect.

Some weeks later, some complications arose which blocked his trachea and affected his breathing, prompting a surgery which was carried out to fit a breathing tube into his trachea to aid his breathing. The doctors planned another surgery to remove the breathing tube and fix the trachea complications, but this was complicated by the fact that UCH, one of the topmost health institutions in Nigeria did not have a laser knife which was required for the surgery. Hence, they had to reschedule another surgery, while AbdHameed continued to breathe with the aid of a tube.

It was in the midst of all these that Nigerian doctors decided to go on strike. I will not waste time debating the rightness or otherwise of the strike action as it is of no use to me or the bereaved family. I only know that it was one strike too many.

AbdHameed was compulsorily discharged from UCH last week despite his situation, and the family had to make arrangements to take him to a private clinic in Ibadan, while praying that the strike action would be called off soon.

However, this was not to be as on Sunday night, the 4th of March, 2007, complications arose with the breathing tube. The private doctors tried their best, but not being specialists in that field or being familiar with his case, it was to no avail. For six grueling hours, they labored, while my friend gasped and struggled to breath, but at the end he returned to his Creator.

If it was in more advanced countries, I would have dared to sue the government and the striking doctors for complicity in his death, but knowing Nigeria, it will be a wasted effort. I know AbdHameed is not the only casualty of this strike, and that saddens me about the country called Nigeria.

It is eight years since we have had a ‘democracy’, and while the president and his vice fight themselves over sordid allegations, the citizens are left to die away. The common people can die all they want as long as the PDP has its way in the do-or-die affair it calls an election.

I hope the doctors enjoy their allowances when and if they get, it but I will always remember their role in AbdHameed’s death.

May God Almighty forgive AbdHameed and grant his parents and family the fortitude to bear the loss.

Very very sad story

Just too Sad. Another star falls!

Indeed From Him we Come and to Him we return.

May Allah be with you AbdHameed, with your Family and Loved ones.

May there arise many stars to follow your good works and lead our beloved Nation & Peoples to the Promised Land.

Salam Aleika Abdul Hameed.


"And whoso obeys God and the Messenger (PBUH), then they will be in the company of those on whom Allah has bestowed His Grace, of the Prophets, the Siddiqun , the Martyrs and the righteous. And How excellent these companions are!" Quran 4 :69

oh man i'm so sorry, God will reinstall your loss, don't worry nigeria and her people will be okay, before things get totally better some unfortunate things will have to happen God should just protect us, these things happen everywhere either america or britain those countries have also being like nigeria before (medically) you can't actually blame anything for somebody's misfortune, watch and pray because nigeria at this moment is like gambling with your life may good lord make us survivals, peace out man. i'm so sorry again take heart don't worry naija will be ok very soon

May his soul rest in peace. Ameen!

awww

so sorry to hear


hes not dead only sleeping

May his soul rest in peace.

Tears are trickelling

What a shame!My heartfelt condolences to the wife and child. May, the Almighty,most benevolent and kind grant him eternal rest.
Nigeria! _{shakes head}

Believe me am shedding serious tears. This could happen to anyone and of course nobody around here cares (i mean the Government), what they are concerned about right now is the forthcoming elections which the President even opened is Mouth to say is a do or die affair. He is seen galavanting the whole country with his two sons( Yaradua and Goodluck) as if he is the one contesting for the president leaving behind important issues that affect the country, on the other hand he is fighting Atiku. Its a big shame. I feel so bad about the story, i feel like am related to the young man that died.No laser Knife in U.C.H- its a big shame.May his soul rest in peace and God would give his family members the fortitude to bear the loss, and as for the bus-driver, i commit him to God.

One must appreciate the good work he put
in and the lives he affected.This is something we should allow
to live on.
But then I cant just understand if in such cases no exception
could be made by Doctors its really unfair.
Where is the humane side to there fight?

sorry o.

Can someone please suggest to the doctors what other means to use in driving home their legitimate requests to a deaf,insensitive and inconsiderate government that only understands confrontation not dialogue?

NB:Note that the doctors are still on a partial strike not a total one.

Health Sector of our economy really need  to be reformed as very few Nigerians can
afford Foreign Medical attention like the Public Officials and their Familes which are drawn
from the hard earn Tax payer's money.
I sympathize with his Family, may the Lord give them the fortitude to Bear the loss
R I P AbdHameed.
It's high time our Government realise how sacred life is, be it that of Iyabo Obasanjo or
of an Okada Man on the Street!

Innalilahi wa inna illaihin raji un. May his soul rest in peace! May Allah give you, his wife and kid and his entire family the fortitude to bear the unfortunate loss, May Allah strengthen your faith and reduce the hurt, i understand your pain, but Allah knows best, please take heart, Allah is watching, God creates nations, may He restore Nigeria to glory and more! Amin!

The solution is simple: privatize all the government hospitals. Private doctors never go on a collective strike.

So so sorry, pray God consolesall those your friend left behind

It's quite pathetic.

An unfortunate end.

AbdHammed will be fondly remembered by people
like you who knew him as a good man.

AbdHammed's death is not caused by the striking doctors,

It was caused by an irresponsible government!
who will not pay right wages,
who will not plan for the future of their citizenry,

Adieu AbHammed

It's a pity.
Many souls have been lost, because of the collapse of the Nigerian government.
But until one is affected, you wouldn't be bothered.
As you can see the government is more bothered about the political war with the opposition than about the innocent lives in danger due to the doctors strike.
Have you been to LUTH?

May God comfort the bereaved.

its painful,the way our leaders are treating some situation.well God knows why, may his soul rest in peace.may God have mercy on him and on us too.accept my deepest condolence.

my deepest regards to the family and friends

Hang on a second please! Everything mentioned (the year of birth, course of study, etc) to describe this AbdulHameed perfectly fits my knowledge of one Ahmeed with whom I spent two years in Room 176, Block 7, Awo Hall. The only thing I'm not sure of is the surname 'Agberemi' even though this continues to ring a bell I consider so unpleasant. I mean why would I want to believe that we lost a person this precious? No it can't just be!

Could it be the same Ahmeed that was a very close friend of Kome who would often come to our room then? Oh my God!

I have met and lived with Muslims but this one stood out. We ate from the same plate and pot so many times in our short stay together in Awo Hall even though we had religious differences. It's now beginning to dawn on me that this description can't be wrong, especially if I recall how great a mastery Ahmeed had over the language called English. He was simply a masterpiece in his choice of words, use of vocabulary and grammatical correctness. For me, he remains unequalled in the knowledge and usage of the language amongst any OAU Alumni that I have ever come in contact with. I remember how he would smile so innocently each time I told him he had made a very wrong choice by studying FST. No, that was not his professional calling and I'm glad he realised that after finishing in Ife.

Oh God, when will Your mercy and righteousness reign upon our country, Nigeria? When are we going to have leaders that will learn to do that which is right? No one, no doctor could save him in our so-called premier medical teaching hospital - the UCH, strike or no strike? What a shameful and embarrassing loss of a Nation!

May the Lord grant his family the fortitude to bear this painfully irreparable loss

It's a pity, a lot of promising people have left this way. He is not the first and definitely will not be the last. May his soul rest in peace.

sorrry, inah lilahi waina ilehi rajiheena

The solution is simple: privatize all the government hospitals.  Private doctors never go on a collective strike.

Unfortunately Seun, the solution is not that simple. To maintain the kind of equipment, plus pay the type of surgeons in government hospitals now, a private hospital would have to charge millions of naira. I have no doubt that he may have survived if he had been taken to an EKO hospital or another of the top private hospitals but could the family have afforded it? You may be surprised to find that even in the US with all its riches, people still die because they cannot afford healthcare.

What we need is a way to ensure that everyone has access to a decent level of healthcare regardless of financial status - a problem that the US has been grappling with for years - and believe me there is no easy solution to that.

My sincere condolences to the family - it is indeed a sad story.

the merciful Allah will grant his family, far and wide the fortitude to bear the loss

its really sad.

My condolences to all those that is affected by his death. May the good Lord grant his soul eternal rest. Amen

May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace! God knows best!

My heart weeps. Tears nearly dropped off my eyes.
May his soul rest in perfect peace and I pray God grants his remaining famiy members the fortitude to bear the loss.
God save Nigeria. AMEN.

it touches my heart, i keep wondering how nice it would have been if there is nothing like death, the heavy tree are really falling in the forest why the the light one are scared of been heavy, GOD! this is too bad to hearing another promising Life as turn ghost, may his soul rest in perfect peace.
  ABDHAMMED O DI GBAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Sorry o.that was a shocking news.may his soul rest in peace.i just wish the police can arrest drivers who drive recklessly,because without the driver speeding the guy would not have died.

I'm very sorry that such things have to happen, but that's the price the society pays for not embracing reality: that you can't have "free" anything without adverse consequences, because nothing is really free in life.