As I drove my car to the  car wash in preparation for a programme I had the next day,I decided to board a commercial bus to buy some materials from the nearest market . While inside the bus,an argument was already ongoing and I had to listen first before making my contributions .They were discussing the recent sacking of resident doctors by our federal government through the ministry of health. It was as if everybody in the bus was against a particular man with tribal marks. The man's argument went this way,'This is exactly what is obtainable in a country where somebody that is professionally trained to handle animals, including but not limited to wild animals and fishes,or better still work with NatGeo world channel where animals are televised ,suddenly whether by divine or manmade permutations became the president of a country inhabited by human beings.' 

 

At this point I was listening with rapt attention. 'If he is wise he should have known that Abacha and other military leaders like the tyrannical General Muhammadu Buhari tried sacking striking workers but they all failed,even last year ,the same federal government tried sacking the striking ASUU lecturers but failed woefully,something that was not possible during the era of military junta,now tell me how it will be possible,the president with his minister for health should go and ask the present governor of Lagos state his experience when he sacked the 774 doctors in Lagos in 2012?,' the man continued almost fuming. 

 

Having realised that my stay in the bus was only temporary, I asked him if I could get his phone number for more talks on that subject matter ,he replied me,'young man I don't give strangers my number.' Having turned down my request and with the stigma attached to such ignominy,I decided to remain as  a loner till I got to my

destination,praying to God that I could get to my junction faster than it should be. Luckily,the motor boy announced,'Any market junction here' ,I shouted 'yes' from my forced withdrawn state.    

 

As i alighted from the bus ,I did not know which of my actions to blame-was it not waiting patiently for the car washer to finish his work or was it politely requesting a phone contact from a a man I barely met? Anytime I remember that singular incident I wish I never entered that vehicle in the first place. However,I gave a second thought to the assertions made by the man. I don't think I will buy his ideas because we have had presidents from different disciplines that ruled their respective countries successfully,in fact our constitution stipulates minimum of SSCE certificate for the office of the president. I think I will blame the advisers to the president for taking such a laughable action .One thing we Nigerians don't know is that our president is a human being and according to the psychologists, every human being has maximum amount of stress he/she can bear at each point in time,above which such an individual will break down.

 

In Obama's first election ,immediately he defeated Hillary Clinton in the party's primaries ,Obama was pressurized to take Hillary Clinton as his vice,Obama refused arguing that his vice must be somebody that would advise him at his wit's end. This was an associate professor of law who envisaged that a time would come and he(Obama) would get to his wit's end(become confused) and at that time the government could only continue if his vice could advise him objectively at that point. Our biblical David  cried unto the lord when he learnt that his sagacious  (senior special) adviser,Ahitophel,had joined the camp of his own son,Absalom, who drove him out of his palace. David did not bother asking God to restore him to his palace but he prayed unto the lord as thus,'...let the advice of Ahitophel turn to the foolishness of man....' These two scenarios have shown us the indispensable roles of advisers in governance.

   

I will not blame the president because the disturbing issues of terrorism and Ebola epidemic are enough distraction. Uneasy,they say,lies the head that wears the crown . Regrettably, those that are supposed to advise the president appropriately are treading with caution to ensure that they retained their posts till they voluntarily withdraw to go and contest gubernatorial elections that might have been zoned to their respective senatorial zones,or better still remain politically relevant since

political posts seem to be easy going concern in Nigeria.

 

WHO IS A RESIDENT DOCTOR?

This is a doctor in a specialised training with a view to becoming an expert called consultant in one area of medicine .It follows that after the doctor must have finished as a house officer,he/she proceeds for the one year NYSC programme,unless exempted due to age or any other reasons. Thereafter,the said doctor will apply for, and must past the 'primaries' professional examination relevant to his/her area of interest. It should be noted that no resident doctor is a PERMANENT staff of the hospital as the programme is structured in such a way that within an  average period of 6-8 years the resident doctor must have either passed the two examinations(part 1 and 2) or be shown the way out. 

 

It should be noted that even if the resident doctor passes the two aforementioned professional examinations as at when due,he/she will be given a maximum grace of six months to leave the hospital if there is no space for him/her to be appointed as a consultant in the hospital .Simply put,no resident doctor is a permanent staff of the hospital in Nigeria. In contrast to this ,any member of Joint Health Sector unions(JOHESU) is a permanent staff of the hospital except those doing their one year internship programme just like their doctor counterparts called house officers.

    

It is the chief resident in each department that prepares the duty roaster and places every other doctor in the department into different units they will work.  The function of the chief resident can be likened to the work of a permanent secretary in a ministry,who organises the day to day running of the ministry. If federal government makes good her 'threat' of sacking resident doctors,retaining the house officers and consultant,there will be confusion and chaos in the health sector as the house officers are still naive in the practical aspect of the profession. 

 

Sacking resident doctors can be likened to sacking all workers in the ministry from the permanent secretary downwards leaving only the minister/commissioner(the consultants) and the newly recruited staff (the house officers) to work in the ministry. By this singular action,it is clear that government does not care about whether there will be chaos in the health sector or not since even if they want to check their  own blood pressure,they will travel abroad with tax payers' money.

 

THE INVERSE NATURE OF OUR LAW

Why should resident doctors be sacked in the first place why sparing the actual people(JOHESU) that foment troubles in the health sector?Since the formation of JOHESU (Joint Health Sector Unions) neither the government nor the health sector has known any peace. Has the government asked the aims and objectives of non-doctors in the health sector  gathering under one umbrella(JOHESU) ?Why are doctors not part of the JOHESU?Are doctors not part of the health sector again?Why can't the individual members of this amorphous group(JOHESU) remain on their own,embarking on strike on their own?

     

The questions raised above are not without answers. The law establishing the medical profession empowers the doctors to be ubiquitous in the health sector. A doctor is trained to manage a patient holistically with or without the help of the paramedical professionals. These so-called paramedical professions are the creation of the doctors,introduced into the system when there were few doctors in the country .It can be likened to a scenario where a house wife employs the services of a maid possibly to help in some domestic activities,that does not mean that the house wife cannot do what the maid is employed to do. It is just part of division of labour .Now,the creation of the doctors are now killing the doctors. Can the medical laboratory scientists allow laboratory technicians/assistants to head their units in any organisation? Can the pharmacists allow the pharmacist-assistants/technicians to head any pharmacy section in any firm? Can  Bsc nurses allow RN nurses or even auxiliary nurses to head the nursing units in our hospitals? 

 

In 2012 ,we all witnessed the the rivalry that erupted between the HND-holders and Bsc-holders of the Radiographers board of Nigeria. Even recently,the nation witnessed the bickering between the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria(PCN) and The National Association Of Pharmaceutical Technologists and Pharmacy Technicians(NAPTON)  over supremacy. The former are university trained,spending at least five years while the latter are trained in either colleges of education or colleges of  health technology,spending about two years. All these insurgencies can be summarized as GREED and INSUBORDINATION. It equally explains the high rates of divorce in our families today. The wife assumes the position of the head of the family because she is gainfully employed.

 

Can a professor of PARAlegal studies head our lowest court(magistrate court) today,no matter the many years of experience in the profession?If no,how then can a PARAmedical professional become the chief medical director of our hospitals where there are qualified medical consultants? The next phrase is 'INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICES'.Shall we now address our president as 'king' because the head of government in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia answers 'king' or will I now address our president as 'prime minister' just because the head of government in the United kingdom is called a prime minister,under the so-called international best practices, without first converting to their system of government?what do this people really understand as international best practices?is it what few countries are still  experimenting on, which can be jettisoned tomorrow? 

 

Should that be our international best practices?Also,even in most of those few countries where there are non-doctor consultants,these consultants don't work in the hospitals ,they work in what may be described as agencies and departments of the ministry of health. Many of the hospitals in USA where non-doctors are the heads,they are privately owned just like our missionary hospitals in Nigeria where non-doctors are the leaders. Is it not madness if medical doctors go to drugs-manufacturing firms and start struggling with pharmacists over the headship of such establishments,claiming that the post is purely administrative?Is it not absurd if medical officers start fighting to be addressed as matrons,chief medical laboratory scientists,chief pharmacists,chief security officers etc in the hospital,citing international best practices?