Lassa
fever and criminal denials
By
Garba
Deen Muhammad
idooba@gmail.com
Top government officials at local, state and federal levels in Nigeria are
generally glib liars. They may not be good at their jobs, they may not be
good at finding solutions to societal problems; but put them in a corner
and ask them how they spent the last budget and you would be surprised how
smoothly they will role out bogus figures and non-existent structures.
It must’ve been this instinctive inclination towards the untruth, a moral
scourge afflicting politicians and government officials, that compelled
the Minister of Health Professor Osotimehin to deny that there is an
outbreak of Lassa fever in some parts of the country. The THISDAY edition
of 26/02/09 reported: “The Minister of Health, Professor Babatunde
Osotimehin, however, said there had been no fresh outbreak of the
disease”. So did the public relations officer of the National Hospital,
Mr. Sadiq.
But the Medical Director of the National Hospital Dr. Olusegun Ajuwon had
already admitted to the media that at least three patients, two from
Nasarawa state where the outbreak started and one from the FCT, had been
diagnosed with the disease and were on admission in his hospital. Before
then the Daily Trust edition of 26/02/09 had carried an editorial titled
“Lassa fever outbreak”. (Two days earlier, in a commendable display of
social service, the same Daily Trust had carried another editorial on the
outbreak of meningitis in the country).As of now sources at the National
Hospital have confirmed at least four people dead from Lassa fever while
many others are receiving treatment. The same sources have also revealed
that most of those infected by the disease are health personnel comprising
nurses and doctors. Reason? Because they lack such basic protective
instruments like gloves, masks etc.
There is really no doubt about it, our country is sick. The attempted
denial by the health minister and the PRO of the National Hospital is bad
enough, but the more serious problem is that Lassa fever, which originated
from rodents and was first discovered 40 years ago in Lassa village, Borno
state, should continue to take health authorities unawares summarizes the
precariousness of the nation’s healthcare system. Hunger and the need for
protein supplement drive Nigerians to hunt for rats (from where they get
the Lassa fever virus) by burning our forest, thereby endangering the
wider environment. When this circle of poverty-related calamities begins
to claim lives, the first priority of those who should have ensured that
such problems never existed in the first place is how to lie in order to
save their jobs. It is impossible to imagine a meaner country than ours.
In a way this official callousness is to be expected. How many of those
ministers came to the job with the interest of Nigerians in mind? If the
rumours circulating are to be believed some of them pulled incredible
stunts in order to become ministers etc; to expect such people to
understand the need to serve humanity is to expect to find a virgin in a
maternity ward (with apologies to Bongos Ikwue). By and large it is
becoming increasingly clear that the common man is doomed in Nigeria. When
there is social upheavals, whether religious or ethnic or both, it is his
children that get killed; when there is outbreak of cholera, meningitis,
measles, polio etc his family is the most vulnerable; when there is
political violence he is always the first to die and the last to be
released from prison. T o make the humiliation permanent, his children
attend the worst schools in the land.
There is definitely the need for President Yar’Adua to find a way to
connect with the ordinary Nigerian, so that he could appreciate the
abjectness of the life he leads; it is obvious that those close to him,
who are supposed to let him know the extent of suffering that the
underprivileged Nigerian is going through are either not telling him
anything at all, or they are feeding him lies.
Adieu, Grand Umma
Two weeks ago another great soul departed this world. She was Hajiya
Zainab Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, last surviving wife of Nigeria’s former
Prime Minister who was killed during the military coup of 1966. Popularly
called Umma, she would be remembered for many things; but in particular
her grand children recalled her excellent cooking and the meticulous care
she put in taking care of her husband. They recall that to prepare a dish
of salad alone used to take her hours, while setting the table for her
husband and his guests was a ceremony in itself. While nobody is
advocating that women should restrict themselves to the kitchen, I think
there is a big lesson there for modern first ladies to learn. It is more
honourable for women to be remembered for being feminine, than otherwise.
May her soul and the souls of those that lost their lives in the last
unfortunate religious violence in Bauchi rest in perfect peace. Amin.