Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Lagos Chapter, Samuel Ayetutu, has called for urgent reforms in Nigeria’s healthcare sector to end the country’s overreliance on foreign medical facilities.
Speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, on Wednesday, Ayetutu reflected on the broader implications of Nigerian leaders seeking medical treatment abroad.
He noted that the late president’s passing has highlighted the inadequacies of the country’s health infrastructure and the need for decisive action.
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Reflecting on Buhari’s death in a foreign hospital, he urged Nigerians and policymakers to seize the moment as an opportunity for critical reforms.
“It provides us with yet another chance to look at what is wrong with us. How come we’ve been able to throw so much energy behind ensuring we refine petroleum products in Nigeria with Dangote Refineries? Why can’t we throw that kind of energy behind developing world-class hospitals, institutions of higher learning, and research centres?” Ayetutu queried.
“When it comes to Nigerians using facilities abroad, whether in the medical area or education, regardless of whether the person is in government or a private citizen, there are reasons why that happens but the issue is As a nation, is it dignifying for us to be running helter-skelter in other countries to seek services which, in some cases, our citizens are the ones providing abroad?,” Ayetutu said questioning the dignity of such dependence, especially when Nigerian professionals are often at the forefront of providing these services overseas.
“That is not something I think many Nigerians have been happy with,” he added.
He acknowledged that citizens often hold the government accountable for such lapses, given its central role in shaping the nation’s systems.
“It is normal for people to put the blame at the doorpost of those running the system because the government controls the destiny of the people.
“I say to people, after God, the most important person is that person called the government. The only thing is that it is, to an extent, abstract,” Ayetutu observed.
Former President Buhari died at the age of 82 in a clinic based in London on Sunday, and was buried at his residence in Daura Katsina State on Tuesday.
Source: Channels TV
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