Ill

Ill-Health As A Pauperization Process

Abdullah Musa

Should we start the discourse by bringing to attention of the reader the respect that the Yoruba man has for money? This is not with intention of denigrating a particular tribe, but may be succumbing to popular myths. The reader may note that those who come from the rural areas of Kano State, do really look down upon those who are the true sons of the inner city, because those members of the inner are seen by the rural folk as loving money above all else.

The leader of the Yoruba, in real fact, the father of the modern Yoruba nation, late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was said to have made his audience to cry at a campaign rally during the second republic, by saying that if they voted a Northerner into office of the President, he would pauperize them and turn them into beggars like his brethren whom they can see begging within their midst. He was also said to have condemned late Malam Aminu Kano as unsuitable for the Presidency; for how could a bankrupt person be elected to such an exalted office?

It is not our wish to arouse old animosities, but simply to illustrate a point: that some people are really too pragmatic enough to accord money its rightful place in modern day Nigeria. I one day met a young Igbo man who was chasing his debtor for amount owed him. When it was dawning upon him that the debtor was being mischievous, he blurted out to sympathizer that his money, (by which he meant his capital) was his life.

Money is the one universal key that solves problems. The creation of money, according to economists, facilitated trade greatly, and freed humanity from the cumbersome practice of barter, which they said could only be feasible if there is “double coincidence of want”. Since our topic is about how ill-health may lead to pauperization of a man, a family, or even a nation, we must really come to accept the fact that the loss of money is what turns an otherwise rich or fairly comfortable man, into a pauper.

Modern economies have come to place emphasis on free enterprise. The owners of capital are usually those who bring about, or set up ventures, that produce goods and services for the markets: be they national or international. Many of those who man such factories are employees. To be able to produce at their maximum ability, to withstand the rigors of working with machines for long hours, they are expected to be healthy. I would not say to be fit as a fiddle, for I do not know what a fiddle is, and why it is more fit than even Rafael Nadal, the current reigning tennis whiz kid.

Health certificate is a requirement where one is taking up new employment. Even a super liberal institution such as government of under-developed nations, insist that an applicant who is successful in his employment bid with them, must produce a certificate of fitness from a Government hospital. There was this joke of an applicant who succeeded in interview, the only hurdle being the medical examination. Knowing his shortcomings of boozing and possibly whoring, he asked his wife to donate her urine to him for analysis, so that he does not lose the appointment for an ailment that might be discovered. Upon examination, the result showed pregnancy, and he was denied the slot because the company had no policy on what to do with “pregnant” man when he requests for “maternity leave”. Do not ask me whether pregnancy test is usually applied on urine supplied by male applicants for examination.

Since good health is a prerequisite for employment, it follows that where ill-health dogs a particular worker, even the government is forced to discharge him or her on health grounds. What would you then expect from a company set up to extract the most from all its resources, including the human employee who is also considered to be used, and discarded when usefulness cannot be guaranteed?

Nigeria had at certain points in its history provided free medical services to its citizens. At that time, while I was in primary school, people were pleaded with to patronize the local dispensary, but they refused. Hospital is named asibiti in Hausa. The fear was such that people changed the name to read asimutu, meaning a place to die, for to mutu means to die in Hausa. Today, decades later, the culture has caught on, while the care has vanished; the ‘health moon’ is over you may say!

Nigeria has made some efforts to bring back the lost paradise of my youths with respect to health care. This gave rise to the setting up of NHIS. However, recently its Executive Secretary was quoted as saying that he needs over 600 billion naira to provide the health cover to all Nigerians: salaried, those on self employment, or even no employment at all. This six hundred billion naira translates to roughly five billion dollars. I am sure Nigerian federal government cannot afford it, as it cannot afford anything that will impact on the well-being of its citizens: it cannot afford power, it cannot afford to pave the roads so that its citizens should stop losing their lives through that channel; it cannot fund education till teachers strike; in short Nigeria’s federal government is the poorest may be in the world; for while Saudi Arabia is planning and building fresh new cities, we are waiting for the participation of the private sector before we pave roads of not more than 10,000 kilometers.

Today as I write, a neighbor of mine when I used to live within the walls of Kano city, is critically ill, being diagnosed as having cancer or very bad liver problem. For the past two years or more, his only economically virile son had been shuttling between hospitals, footing the bill, while is economic future is being eroded. The longer his father stays on the hospital route/ bed, the more his economic future gets bleaker: he cannot save; and unfortunately for him, even if the father regains health, his is the responsibility of taking care of his mother, step-mothers, and children who are not yet adults. His lot is shared by many others, who suffer in silence, while the super, unjustified salaries and perks of politicians enables them to afford all the best medical care in the world, and mostly at government’s expense.

Where else but in Nigeria should such injustice take root? Government of Kano State has done well by spending billions ferrying a handful of its citizens to foreign hospitals for medical care. In many cases it turns out to be a wasted investment for the patient dies. In such cases the fact is that the diagnosis or treatment had been defective for long, before the decision to go abroad was taken. What seem lacking are basically two or three ingredients: medical personnel with up to date knowledge, hospitals fully equipped with state of the art facilities, and a scheme that ensures affordability of such facilities to all citizens.

If diagnosis can be this easy, why will medication prove to be difficult? It will be difficult because of the character of Nigeria. Here we are with majority of us bankrupt, even beyond Chief Awo’s imagination; yet our legislators receive stupendous packages that will give them highest comfort the land can afford for life.

Nigeria is a colony; an Animal Farm if you prefer. Those who are in the saddle today, much more than any of those who submerged the nation previously, are running the country for the benefit of their foreign backers. Natural resources are extracted, favorable market now reigns, the politicians are legally empowered by RMAFC to rape and plunder the treasurer, while the ordinary hardworking citizens receive no benefit whatsoever; they are even compelled to pay taxes!

Nigerians are prisoners in their own nation: they cannot vote their leaders in; they cannot vote them out; they cannot make them to work for them; they cannot stop the ‘dealers’ from taxing them; and they cannot dictate the social service they need from the taxes!

Allah jikan ku yan’ Nijeriya!