₦airaland Forum

RIP to the dead...
Buh facts should be gotten right....Just one side of d story is wat we are reacting to..plus it's just natural that because a life was involved we get sentimental. Be that as It may, anything could have hapenned on d said day. Plus no1 should judge....CS costs 45,000 in lagos state hospitals....nd as much as 1M in some private hospitals...nobody's biz on our any1 runs he's or her biz....so, I say until full investigation is done on d matter...pple should not act GOD.

Omo..NO for me...breeze gats circulate for dat area well..nd d only way is by boxers....with pants...it's gonna be hell...so No way

.............Bless America
A) sopona..
B) Ogun
C) Obatala
E) light
F) snakes
G) nd soo on....

Are u guys seeing d big picture in this..? Mark my words...GEJ will intervene in this issue nd get these guys lower level sentences...looking Good in d face of Nigerians...gaining popularity more amongts the soldiers..notherners..all for political reasons...well, watch it now nd watch it carefully....just my own perspective though

Am single..cos of famz ishes...plus I am not ready sef....buh am gradually watching d love of my life slip away....not wise buh...buh dats d situation

xamuel17: Dear fools, who think EVD volunteers shouldn't be paid.. Should go to hell.. These people are like soldiers in war fronts.. To me, I feel they should increase their pay and never mess with their allowance!

I tire for Nigerians oooo...as usual d volunteers cover d govt lapses..buh they can't do that for long..hence they have to voice out...to be frank..the only thing the govt sabi do na to make noise...mouth and lies...

...

Omo....well he has his life to live sha...just that I doubt if hin pops can come out to say he's proud of his son. come oo..too much money (stolen)...u come send pickin abroad...next thing d pickin turn gay...wats d joy in dat...na to wait till pickin old well b4 sending abroad ooo...NOW d young dude can't come back to naija again...cos he den has to go jail like his pops..he's 14years. SHio..

Hello...if she really worked for her 1st class...and she is a 1st class candidate...she should not be scared of outsyd world...yes it's rough nd not too encouraging out there..buh lecturing for her not even trying dem PWC..KMPG...SHELL...CHEVRON...d big dogs companies outysd dere...plus masters, xcept she has a passion for lecturing..i say dump dat job nd check out the outsyd world..try b4 u conclude there is no space for u...if u truly worth d 1st class...then u shouldn't fear

Federal govt didn't intimidate anybodi...some of d demands were met...plus, there is NO way dey can sack resident doctors doing residency..where will they find new doctors....new SRs...plus the hospitals will loose accreditation...so they were neva intimidated...one bit

I know say person go quick come post am for here...make dem annouce am officially for press briefing naa..plus no be only u dey monitor edm meetings. haabaa

Really...I wish him luck...buh my own candid opinion....it's gonna be tough luck...British still be racists to d core..not like in d states...where dey are more liberal....the english...omo born..with all dem Sir dis Sir dat...Queen dis Lord dat....u see blackky for all those gatherings? abeg...make dat guy come contest for Nigeria jaaree. that place no sure for am.....

Strike continues...please get information right

An average guy is broke....nd racks his head. on how to quickly make cash..legally without police wahala..hustles sweats...does casual work for a week..nd rakes in 5-7k at d end of d week...An average lady goes broke..nd knows opening her legs for just 5-10mis can fetch her a minimum of 5k..if she's luckly up to 50k. Pls...wat do u xpect. Nigerians are after easy ways of making cash. nd these ladies choose d easy way out. Give most of dem a shop or somefin dat rakes in bits per week..they still wanna go back to olosho Biz. It's d greed...nd love for short cut to making money... Now that been said...I put it to u..that if a guy is to be paid at least 3-5k for using his 3rd leg...nd d market booms like dat for females....u will be amazed that na men go worse for the sex trade biz. It's more of greed..poverty level in d country...buh it's still no xcuse to go into prostituition.

Pls..how do I transfer or copy my contacts from Bold 2 to nokia lumia 625 (windows) pls. Any ideas. Asap

jayseehe: heartless doctors

Heartless nigerians...like docs are not humans too...

Haabaa...a ladies private ise is hidden naa..so wen a guy's hand gets to dat place..no be by mistake..so next thing na to slap am...confam slap..no guckin.

Really it baffles me that d populace will wait till there's is a bomb blast b4 they realise the importance of docs in d society (some1 dat is empowed to save life in a split second by doin d right thing, yet they treat dem like crap...) instead of chastising d FG not looking into d doc-Johesu issue. See...Nigerians are so used to managing everything....manage dis manage dat...I bet d money d docs are getting now don't make dem see beyond their nose. The populace shuld be the one protesting here....instead they xpect a doc...to be the one to act as if he's not a Nigerian in Nigeria nd act savior all d time till he himself needs saving....let the docs just call off d strike nd Nigeria remain Nigeria..afterall we used to the whole system sef

drered: So you'd rather kick them out to the streets than let them stay where they can get care even without you there? What version of the hippocratic oath did you take?

They practically don't kick dem out...the just write on paper..."discharge"....nd tell d patient am nomore responsible for u. so it's d patients choice to stay with d nurses or go out. Plus the nurses sef if they are dat confident shud tell dem to wait nd they will continue management...abi.. lets just say d masses know who's d boss of d team. unfortunately masses are not protestting

Normal thing.....like 10 to 15mins nap. no harm in that....

I no blv...in OAU..b4 u say jack robissson...dem don call u cultist..way back den...come make u halla ur padi name...u are a cultist..so now....dis guy God knows wat he was up too...buh ife students can easily label d guy a terrorist in no time...as na wetin dey reign be dat....so I No Blv

odeee!!!

Me dey wait download of all......or who get all for now....nd where I can get it...I am at agege...

Dear colleagues, arising from NARD E-NEC and NMA EDM, and folwng d grosly inadequate response from FG, both houses declare that the total strike continues. Cheers

Anyways...Strike continues...

onyxo76: just 25,000 drs for a nation of over 170 million citizens!!! and more are going overseas annually even after getting specialist training here... thats 1 dr to about 7000 people! - danger signs ahead!!

Abi oo..broda......*IGS?*

Gloria Iheanacho writes. And i found it interesting.

I am a Medical lab scientist in one of the state hospitals. I have this strange feeling for doctors, hatred is the extreme form of what i feel about them. Its nothing personal. My family are JOHESU-mother is a nurse practising in the US for more than 16yrs, father is a pharmacist. 2 of my siblings are pharmacist and one a nurse. My mother watched the sunrise daily yesterday and kept on screaming. Theres no place in the US in which the other health workers heads. They are usually headed by doctors. Not all nurses are made consultants. You talk about consultant nurse when you talk about the legal aspect and they dont work in hospitals. Relativity is maintained everywhere in the health sector. Whats the debate about?
As hard as it is for me to write this, i want to be on the side of truth. The doctors in this country are not given the necessary respect that they need. Personally, i have read the 24 point demands and i think theres so much sense in it. The FG needs to do something about this. Lets join our hands and build our health sector. Health they say is wealth

emmaliver: RAPE OF THE BLACK GOLD – NMA Strike and
the Crisis in Nigeria’s Health Sector
INTRODUCTION
After trying hard to avoid putting pen to paper
to express the bottled up emotions inside me, a
news item on a national TV station has finally
pushed me over the edge to try to explain to
whosoever cares to listen, the reasons why the
NMA is on strike, and why there should be
public agitation in favour of it. In the said news
item, members of the public are yet to
understand the reason for the strike. For the
avoidance of doubt, I am a medical doctor and I
write from a possibly biased point of view. As
you go through this article, you may discover
areas where I agree or disagree with the issues
raised by my mother association. But while I do
that, I will try to be as reasonable and
dispassionate as possible.
I do not believe that strikes should be the
handle by which the Nigerian government turns,
such that it is impossible to press home the
demand of a labour union or group in this
country without grabbing it. The feverish efforts
used to approach an industrial action towards
its end can be applied at the moment when
there is a NOTICE of action. If this were the
habit of those in government, perhaps the
current NMA action and many others strikes by
other bodies of workers before it would have
been averted. My aversion to the use of strikes
is even more amplified when it involves the
truncation of flow of an essential service – be it
power, health, transportation, security or other.
The oath which I and my noble colleagues took
reads in part, “I will practice my profession with
conscience and dignity; the health of my patient
will be my first consideration”. In all fairness, I
want to say that inspite of the dearth of modern
day equipment, dilapidated infrastructure and
terrible working conditions, we are still
struggling to live true to our promise.
Most doctors I know today work extra hours
unpaid, donate to help patients obtain
medications or pay bills, or go out of their way
to perform “non-doctor” work just to make the
patients well. The following two examples are
true at least in the Jos University Teaching
Hospital. Doctors run around the wards to pick
up instruments and case notes (files) of
patients, when many times the nurse is idle in
the ward. Carrying files and getting all
instuments required by a doctor on ward rounds
should be a nurse’s responsibility, or at least
she should direct her orderlies and substaff on
what to do. In addition, she should make
contributions, report relevant events which
occured in the doctor’s absence, and take her
own notes during the ward round. That is what
our teachers tell us used to happen in the past.
But alas, that is not the case. She sizes up the
doctor first, to see his rank. If he or she is a
house officer (the lowest cadre), he may just as
well proceed without her. Afterall, she has a
daughter at home that is older than this “small
boy”. African megalomania at its worst. If the
doctor is a Consultant(topmost grade), she may
then gauge whether this doctor is the “friendly
type” or the “difficult type”. Because for the
difficult people, the rules have to be obeyed or
else there will be trouble. This category of
doctors is thus spared the pain of others. My
second example, though recently corrected by a
circular from management, is that doctors
sometimes become porters, carrying blood
samples and results to and from the
laboratories. In the course of seeking for results
in the laboratory, a doctor was recently slapped
in the face by a laboratory staff, leading to the
management response. While that malady
lasted, excuses for the staff who were employed
for that purpose ranged from “too few hands”
to “engaged with something else” to “its not
our job”! for want of space, I will leave other
examples alone.
I hope this leaves no one in doubt that we do
our jobs (and sometimes the jobs of others –
just to make the system work)
Now to the issues.
WHO SHOULD HEAD A HOSPITAL?
Who should head a hospital? Of course, this
kind of absurd question would not arise in a
private hospital. As we know it, the law in
Nigeria requires registration with the Medical
and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) and up-
to-date payment of Annual Practicing fees for
an individual to set up a private hospital. I
carefully choose the word “hospital” because
Nigeria has an endless number of appelations
for both health facilities and slaughter houses.
And the nigerian public is so misled that there
is now no distinction between hospital,
pharmacy, clinic, dispensary, nursing home,
patent medicine seller, and a community health
officer’s spare bedroom. All manner of
attrocities are committed – there are consulting
rooms in pharmacies, theatres in nursing
homes, abortion facilities in dispensaries, and
operating rooms on people’s dining tables. The
mess is so mad that everybody who has ever
witnessed the administration of an intravenous
drug or watched an appendectomy is now fully
“medically qualified”. So the criminals who do
these things, due to the ineptitude of law
enforcement, now see themselves as equal to
all others who have licences to practice
professionally. And a handsome majority of
perpetrators of these acts are the other health
professionals and allied health professions.
The problem as I have stated, cannot arise in
Private hospitals. It is in the public institutions,
where salaries do not depend on how much
work is done, but on how much the institution
receives from the “national cake”. Not on how
much training we have received, but on how
many years we have been sleeping at the office.
Not on our individual skills and interests, but on
how many pieces of possibly fraudulent paper
are found in our credential file. For if these
attributes were to be sought by our employer,
we would never have arguments for how much
we should receive. Or who should be in charge.
Regrettably, however, our employer is an object
that neither has a head or a brain. It cannot
reason and thus cannot make any reasonable
judgment. Our employer is the black gold that
runs beneath the land and waters of the Niger
Delta and other parts of southern Nigeria. Our
employer is crude oil – our birthright and ticket
to laziness, our excuse for brazen corruption,
and our foundation for mediocrity and lack of
desire for development. And to tell the truth, I
secretly pray sometimes that the oil would just
dry up, if only to induce sanity into our country.
For if this employer were reasonable, it would
ask why there should be a difference between
the private hospital (which performs its duties
and makes a profit) and a government
institution which is just a black hole into which
money is sunk, neither getting profit nor
benefitting the masses for which it was built.
The law setting up teaching hospitals specifies
that to become the CMD, a person has to have
a basic medical degree (here meaning Bachelor
of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) and have
become a consultant, owning a fellowship of
one of the Postgraduate medical Colleges, as
well as a few other requirements. This is one of
the cardinal disputes of today.
Let me introduce the Joint Health Sector Unions
(JOHESU), an amalgam of Labour Unions
formed a few years ago and basically including
all other staff except Medical Doctors. Even to
a blind and deaf person, this is an association
of strange bedfellows. Pharmacists, Nurses and
laboratory Scientists alone would have made
some sense. But add Administrative staff,
accountants, medical records staff and it starts
to get confusing. When you finally integrate
cleaners, porters and other junior staff into the
mix, it tells what the only object of such a
hydra-headed conspiracy could be – the
extermination of the disciples of Hippocrates.
JOHESU seeks for appointment of CMDs to be
“made open to all competent and qualified
health professionals”. The arguments for them
are that this is done in some parts of the world,
that their members also have medical
knowledge, and that it would promote equity
and fairness. On face value, these seem to be
reasonable and genuine demands. And central
to our response has been one issue – training.
Apart from medical doctors, other health
professionals attend university courses based
on the semester system in Nigeria (let us leave
out those who have sub-degree programmes for
now – they know themselves). Apart from the
Pharmacists, who do 10 semesters, most other
professionals spend 8 semesters. Two of these
semesters however are spent doing basic
science, which is essentially same across board.
So in effect, pharmacists spend eight semesters
and other six, preparing for working life. Now
doctors also do the same basic science, with
higher credit unit loads than most others. After
the first year, however, the difference in training
time is incredible. The semester system for the
doctor is over. The remaining five years of
training are basically without holidays. When
there are breaks, they last between 2 and 3
weeks, usually after exams - and in the
University of Jos, for example, there are just
three major examinations beside continuous
assessments, which are regular. So on the
generous side, a medical student has perhaps
nine to twelve weeks of official breaks out of
five years. That is an incredible four-and-a-half
years of training. Compare that with six
semesters of four months each, totalling 24
months or 2 years. Or for the Pharmacist, eight
semesters of four months, which would be two
years and eight months. The amount of
knowledge difference is surely massive.
Asides that, the doctor is schooled in EVERY
aspect of HUMAN medicine – and in appreciable
depth. What the other professionals are
schooled in, as far as it pertains directly to
human medicine, we also learn. So what then is
the doctor’s advantage as a chief executive? A
doctor has a wider scope of training and is
equipped to understand the entire workings of a
hospital as it relates to patient care. Thus if a
lab scientist, pharmacist, nurse or other health
professional for example, speaks to a doctor
CEO about the needs of his department or
problems they are having, the doctor would fully
comprehend. If a pharmacist were giving the
same information to a lab scientist, however,
the situation would be different. This wide
scope of training and central role also has a
bearing on decision making for the best possible
allocation of resources and manpower, enabling
the hospital to run smoothly for the good of the
patients. That is why a career engineer would
most likely be the head of a construction firm
and not a welder or bricklayer, even if they all
had PhDs. A lawyer would be the head in the
courtroom, whether the clerk has a thorough
knowledge of court procedure, court rulings and
how to decide cases or not. Its simple logic.
Where people start to argue about whether
doctors are trained in management, my answer
is that other health professionals are generally
no different in that respect. Seeking for
“fairness” and “equity” and trying to avoid
things being “skewed” has absolutely no bearing
in an industry whose objective is to preserve
human life. This is not sports or entertainment
or tourism, where ignorance and mistakes can
be condoned. Any managerial mistake in a
hospital can lead to loss of life, which is
irreplaceable. And for the records, recent studies
in the UK have shown that doctors head very
few hospitals in that country, but most of the
top 100 performing hospitals are among those
headed by doctors. That kind of evidence based
argument in a sane society can have no reply.
The document regulating the tertiary hospitals
in Nigeria has said the doctor should be the
head. Since the status quo has not been
deemed a failure by the government, it should
remain. It is pertinent to add here that the
clamour for the interpretation of the phrase
“medically qualified” by JOHESU is part of the
ploy to co-opt their members into the league of
persons entitled to apply for CMD in the tertiary
institutions in the country. To be mild, this
loophole seeking is simply childish. For if
medically qualified were to be a general term for
any diploma (certificate) related to medicine,
the makers of the law would not have added a
postgraduate fellowship, which is peculiar to
doctors, to the list of requirements.
APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTORS AND THE POST
OF DEPUTY CHAIRMAN, MEDICAL ADVISORY
COMMITTEE (DCMAC)
Like I mentioned earlier, we live in a ludicrous
society. There is little respect for order, and
people appear to be more at home with
anarchy than sanity. Let’s go back to the
structure of a teaching hospital. There are three
directors in a teaching hospital – Director of
Administration (DA), Head of Clinical Services
(HOCS, also known as Chairman, Medical
Advisory Committe - CMAC), and the Chief
Medical Director, who is the Chief Executive.
The DA handles purely administrative matters,
while the CMAC handles issues related to
patient care. The CMD, of course, is their
superior and serves as the CEO. This ensures
that patient care is not sacrificed on the altar of
administrative issues and vice versa. There are
assistant directors in areas such as nursing,
finance, works, and so on. This creates a visible
chain if command within the hospital. The
yearning of JOHESU is that their members be
promoted to Director Cadre within the hospital
setting. Knowing the Nigeria we live in, no
director will be answerable to another within
the same ministry or agency. A director, as far
as I know, is only answerable to a permanent
secretary. Now unless the titles of the CMD, DA
and CMAC are changed, what will become of
the hospitals when we have, say, 100 other
“Directors” walking the corridors of the teaching
hospital? And if you make all the CMDs in
Nigeria permanent secretaries today, what will
become of the Ministry of Health? For surely,
such permanent secretaries will only report to
the Minister! And how many ministers can we
have at once?
This whole debacle is directly related to the
quest for salary increase, if u ask me. How
many other government institutions have a
hundred Directors within them as will be the
case if this request is granted? Now the irony of
it is that if this policy is approved, many
doctors would also proceed to become
directors. But our question is this – what
benefit does it add to the system? None! And
what does it take away? First, increased wage
bills for the government. Secondly, increased
anarchy in a system that is already bastardised
by unprofessionalism. Thirdly, many “directors”
will abscond from their duty posts since they
would now be too big to sit in a clinic,
laboratory, pharmacy or hospital ward. And who
would bear the brunt of it all? Our dear old
black oil. Raped, plundered and wasted, but still
faithful. Nothing can be more senseless. If
people wish to pursue an increasein pay, they
are free to do so. But for Pete’s sake, let there
be order in the hospital!
On the appointment of DCMACs, JOHESU would
simply not hear of it. Their argument is that it
is unlawful; possibly because it is not written
out in the document that created teaching/
tertiary hospitals in the country. But they forget
to add that there are circulars from the
government that support the creation of the
office. Also, the law gives the boards of the
teaching hospitals powers to take measures
that ensure the smooth running of the hospitals,
and these appointments are made by the
boards! The job of the CMAC is indeed a
tasking one and like every other Director in the
civil service, he/she should have deputies to
help with functions. I think that is simple
enough.
SKIPPING OF GRADE LEVEL 12
The Ministry of Health has issued a circular
stating that contrary to what was hitherto
obtained, where all other staff of the Ministry
skipped a grade level at some point in their
careers except doctors, we should also be
included. Though the Ministry is still in court
over the legality or otherwise of skipping, it is
only fair that all members of the family enjoy
what our father, the Federal Government, has
brought home from his hunting adventures. Abi
the oil money don finish? Na on top our head
una wan talk say the money no go reach again?
Lai lai!. I don’t believe this should be a matter
of contention. What is good for the geese is
also good for the gander.
THE TITLE OF CONSULTANT AND THE QUEST
FOR SPECIALIST ALLOWANCE AND TEACHING
ALLOWANCE

Too long...I no fit read am...

ebosse: That's no excuse. This is a matter of DEATH & LIFE we are talking about here. A doctor should be a person who wants to save lives @ all cause.Unfortunately it is different in Nigeria.. These days when I hear the word Nigerian doctors the first thought that comes in mind is Nigerian Politicians.. I had a lot of friends studying Medicine while I was still in Uni and 99% of them decided to Read medicine because of the Money involved not because they give a shvt about human lifes
.
This is Y ppl die a lot in hospitals these days because Doctors don't put out all they can give y trying to save patients.
I think the only way to seed out the weed in both the political and health sector is actually by reducing (Not increasing) drastically the amount earn by these ppl.Then the ppl who really care will stay on and fight for their course y the mediocres will search for the next highest-earning sector.

U say life and death...naija police no dey deal with life and death...dem soldiers no be life and death...? it's more like a Nigerian issue....i feel for the docs sha....

So because docs are meant to save lives now...make dem dey practice silly medicine.....abeg, whether una like it or not....strike will never be supported..buh ask d govt for allowin it. meanwhile, I was oppurtuned to hear a story once, a doc was seeing patients in a clinic..., the doc den collapsed...apparently had health issues too...the next the d patients( not all) said was..."Shebi dis doc for see us answer us b4 he collapse"....so u see, na naija we dey...all man for himself...dont blame docs abeg