VALEDICTORY PRESS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE NIGERIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (NMA), DR. OSAHON ENABULELE, ON THE OCCASION OF NMA’s 54th ANNUAL GENERAL CONFERENCE AND ANNUAL DELEGATES MEETING DATE: TUESDAY, 29th APRIL, 2014 VENUE:  NMA NATIONAL SECRETARIAT, ABUJA.

 

VALEDICTORY PRESS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE NIGERIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (NMA), DR. OSAHON ENABULELE, ON THE OCCASION OF NMA’s 54th ANNUAL GENERAL CONFERENCE AND ANNUAL DELEGATES MEETING

DATE: TUESDAY, 29th APRIL, 2014

VENUE:Â  NMA NATIONAL SECRETARIAT, ABUJA.

 

PROTOCOL

Our dear friends in the fourth estate of the realm, on behalf of the Nigerian Medical Association and the out-going National Officers Committee (NOC), I happily welcome you to this Valedictory Press Conference aimed at informing you of the on-going transition exercise in our Association and to also intimate you of activities lined up for our 54th Annual General Conference and Annual Delegates Meeting (AGC/ADM) billed for the great city of Benin from the 27th of April to the 4th of May, 2014.

As you may be aware, every two years the NMA undergoes a transition from one National Officers Committee/National leadership to another, as prescribed by our Association’s constitution. By the first week of May, 2014 our current leadership of the NMA would have spent the constitutionally prescribed two year non-renewable period in office. Hence, one of the significant events that will characterize the 54th AGC/ADM is the democratic election and swearing in of a new national leadership of our Association.

This year’s AGC/ADM whose opening ceremony is at 11am on Friday, 2nd May, 2014, shall hold in Homeville, Best Western Hotel, G.R.A., in the city of Benin, Edo State. It has as its theme: ‘’Healthcare Delivery and National Development: A Critical Appraisal in Nigeria’s 100 Years Existence’’. The Special Guest of Honour is Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR, President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; while the Guests of Honour are Rt. Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal CFR, Speaker, House of Representatives and Prof. C.O. Onyebuchi Chukwu, Honourable Minister of Health; the Chairman of the occasion is Dr Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia CON, two-time Governor of Edo state and old Bendel state; while the Father of the Day is Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Erediauwa CFR, Oba of Benin. The Mother of the Day is Dame Dr. Patience Faka Jonathan, First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and President, African First Ladies Peace Mission;

Other events lined up during this conference includes;Â Free Surgical, Medical & Dental treatment (April 28-30); International walk for peace to be led by Mama Peace, the First Lady and Mother of the day, Dame Dr. Patience Jonathan;Â City Tour; National Executive Council/ Delegates meeting; interactive sessions with the President and officials of the World Medical Association (WMA), and the leadership of National Medical Associations from other African Countries.

There shall also be a Closing dinner/Award Nite on Saturday, 3rd May 2014 at the Homeville, Best Westernâ€Å½ Hotel, Benin City; at 9.30pm.

Distinguished friends of the fourth estate of the realm, in selecting the theme of this conference we were conscious of the fact that at the time this conference will be holding in Benin City, Nigeria would have celebrated the anniversary of her centenary which is laced with substantial travelling experiences not only as a Nation State but also in the delivery of healthcare services to the toiling people of Nigeria. We therefore thought it necessary to use the opportunity of this year’s annual conference to appraise the healthcare delivery system in Nigeria’s 100 years of existence. This informed the choice of the theme.

The Guest Speaker chosen to speak on the theme, Prof. Shima  Gyoh, is one with a very rich national experience, a remarkable sense of history of Nigeria’s health system and a vast background in medical education and training, hospital and health system administration.

I would like to state that 100 years in the life of any country is substantial enough to warrant some critical analysis. I am sure that you agree with me intoto.

Nigeria’s health sector like most other sectors of the Nigerian economy has had its share of cumulative insults, as well as good and bad times in the last 100 years. Indeed, since the Walker-Harkness development plan a lot has happened to Nigeria’s health system and developmental plans. However, while the number of health policies, health infrastructure, health human resource and equipment may have shown progressive increase in the last 100 years, Nigeria’s healthcare delivery system is yet to attune itself to the genuine expectations and aspirations of Nigerians, most of who live in abject poverty in hard-to-reach communities.

Undoubtedly, after 100 years of existence, Nigeria’s healthcare delivery system is still grappling with lots of challenges attributable to several factors. However, I wish to most responsibly state that the most pre-eminent disease that has plagued Nigeria’s healthcare system over the century is the virtual lack of political commitment by the country’s political leaders at different levels of Government. Most of them are evidently yet to appreciate the strong nexus between health and development.

Whereas everyone says that ‘health is wealth’, most of Nigeria’s political leaders and policy makers at different levels of government play incredible politics with the health of their people; thus paying just a lip service to a most serious issue. That the health of the people has no fundamental place of reckoning in Nigeria’s grundnorm speaks volume on how Nigeria’s political leadership and elites regard health.

In virtually all National conversations on how to develop the Nigerian State, health is hardly put in the front burner. The elites only remember the importance of health when they fall ill and have need for the services of medical doctors, most of whom are daily exiting the shores of Nigeria as a result of unsatisfactory government policies, poor workplace conditions/conditions of service.

100 years down the line, Nigeria’s Universal Health Coverage is still less than 7%, Appropriation for health as a percentage of the budget of the federal government and most states and local governments is still far below the minimum benchmark of 15% of government budget despite the 2001 Abuja declaration of African Heads of Government. To worsen this scenario, budget performance, in terms of actual amount of funds released, has been sub-optimal. In the next hundred years, we might still be ridiculed with the poor health and social development health indices as a nation, God forbid.

Today, Nigeria’s elites and top political office holders take delight in travelling abroad for very minor medical conditions that can be well managed with minimal expertise in Nigeria. They are quick to tell you that the health infrastructure is deficient and that they cannot afford being managed with it. They forget that it is their responsibility to adequately invest in the health system, fix the health  infrastructure and equipment; motivate the health human resource; provide the highly critical enabling environment and commitment to proper regulation of services; and other ingredients of the health system, for the prosperity of the people. NMA has shouted itself hoarse about this national disgrace but our voices still appear lonely as in the wilderness.

Today, the primary healthcare system which by all global standards is meant to be closer to the people and to manage over seventy (70%) per cent of the disease burden of Nigeria is in a poor functional state. In reality, most of Nigeria’s primary and secondary healthcare systems are currently in despicable states with little or no integration and a collapsed referral system. How many of you would like to be treated at any of our rural health centres or general hospitals? I am sure none of you would; forgetting that since we all travel, fate might force us to benefit from the services in those health facilities.

After 100 years of existence, Nigeria’s public healthcare industry is bereft of international best practices; it has become an ‘all-comers affair’ with every one virtually accountable only to himself or herself, with little or no coordinated regulation and supervision by the employer of labour. Today anyone can declare him/herself a self-appointed messiah in treating any ailment; unverified through a peer review system of cure claim authentication as it is in other climes; fraudulently obtain a drug registration licence and start murdering Nigerians in their numbers of worsen their plights, all in the name of traditional/alternative medicine. May I ask at this juncture- what does our nation Nigeria want? Which way do we want to go as a nation?

While we appreciate some efforts being made by some State Governments and the present Federal Government led by President Goodluck  Ebele  Jonathan GCFR, particularly in convening the Presidential Summit on Universal Health Coverage on March 10, 2014, it is however sad to note that majority of the State and Local governments are either still paying lip service to healthcare and the welfare of healthcare workers or taking their states back to pre-independence era.

We therefore call on Nigerians to only vote for health conscious Nigerians who appreciate the veritable relationship between health and development and who truly appreciate the need to promote their health rights as fundamental human rights. Never again should Nigerians cast their votes for only those don’t truly appreciate their health needs; that site health facilities for political convenience and gains, negating principles of equity and accessibility which are vital if our life expectancy statistics would improve.

Similarly, Nigerians must be given opportunity to demand accountability for their health rights from their political leaders by enshrining Health Rights as a justiciable fundamental human right in chapter IV of Nigeria’s 1999 constitution (as amended).

Though the NMA is encouraged by the recent decision of the President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan-led Federal Government to implement the proposal of the NMA for a Health and Hospital Development and Intervention Fund (HHDIF), the establishment of the Office of Surgeon-General of the Federation, as well as other proposals to strengthen the healthcare system and encourage medical doctors and healthcare practitioners to continue serving the nation in ways that will positively impact on the growth and development of Nigeria, we wish to fervently appeal for accelerated implementation of the above decisions. The Office of Surgeon-General is urgently needed to address the burgeoning rise in medical tourism as a result of indiscreet approvals for foreign medical tours by public officers with the use of tax payer’s resources; the Officer is also needed for independent assessment of the health status of public officers. We also call for the quick implementation of the proposal for establishment of a Health and Hospital Development and Intervention Fund (HHDIF).

Our respected brothers and sisters, as I earlier stated, at the end of this year’s Annual General Conference and Delegates Meeting we would, as a leadership, have successfully completed our two (2) year non-renewable tenure as National Officers of our beloved Association, NMA, having been overwhelmingly and democratically elected on Saturday 4th May, 2012. This Conference and Delegates Meeting shall therefore feature the democratic election of new national officers to pilot the affairs of our Association for the next two years (2014-2016). The new leadership is expected to take over from us, the out-going national leadership, on Saturday 3rd May, 2014.

At this juncture, permit me to express my profound gratitude and that of the other members of the out-going National Officers Committee to our friends in the media for the tremendous support they gave us all through the period of our leadership. We have no doubt that what has been described as a very successful and remarkable tenure could not have been achieved without your support.

Undeniably, our two year tenure was most engaging, challenging, exciting and eventful. Right from the time the baton of leadership was handed over to us by our predecessors in office we virtually had no time to settle down as we had to contend with one challenge or the other. But thank God we came to office with a rich background of cognate experience in the internal and external workings of our Association, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and the healthcare delivery system of Nigeria.

When we sought the mandate of our members we clearly articulated what we thought were the critical internal and external challenges facing our dear Association. We also presented to our members our modest strategies for concretely addressing those challenges. These strategic options were part of our well-considered agenda of ‘’Sustained Consolidation and Progressive Re-engineering of our Association’’, aptly captured in ‘’Our Covenant with Nigerian doctors’’.

All through our tenure we were guided by the need to passionately commit ourselves to the fearless actualization of that covenant in a way that fulfils the founding objectives of our Association. The covenant was focused on building great foundations in NMA and adopting new strategies to engage the Nigerian system and the challenges of the 21st century. It was one that sought to institute a culture of progressivism and collectivism in NMA. 

Indeed, we worked zestfully to positively re-engineer, reposition, and transform the Association into a proactive, responsible and responsive organization that loudly resonates in national and international circles. This, we did by cogitating and ex-cogitating new concepts and strategies for frontally addressing the numerous challenges that faced our Association during our tenure, the medical profession and Nigeria’s healthcare system.

As custodians of the people’s health, we also tried to keep faith with the genuine expectations of Nigerian citizens for adequate protection of their health rights.

Our first real challenge occurred within three days of our election as National Officers. Before we could settle down in office, we were faced with the sack of 788 Doctors by the Lagos State Government; quite strange and unprecedented.

Conscious of the fact that this action of the Lagos State Government was a frontal assault on the collective image and integrity of NMA, the Medical profession and the healthcare delivery system, we were unanimously resolved on the need to strategically neutralize this strong-arm tactics of the Lagos State Government against our colleagues who sought to give expression to their legitimate rights and demands.

With a strong reliance on our background experiences in struggles of this nature and buoyed by our efforts at forging strategic alliances, we were never in doubt that the unwarranted and illegal sack of the “Lagos 788â€Â was going to be reversed with the relationship between employees and their employer restored.

Our vigorous advocacy efforts and our timely convocation of the historic Emergency Delegates Meeting (EDM) (held in the then embattled city of Lagos on June 2, 2012) evidently propelled the unconditional recall of the ‘Lagos 788’. This feat proved once again that that no establishment can ever defeat a united, purposeful, and resolved army of the NMA.

We remain grateful to our friends in the media and the general public for their strategic support which immensely contributed to the total reversal of the sack order with the unconditional recall of the “Lagos 788â€Â.

During our tenure, we deliberately instituted some strategic progressive reforms in NMA and embarked on regular four monthly conduct of Medical Missions during which we offered free surgical, medical, dental and laboratory services to indigent Nigerians; we engendered greater participation in the social development sector as evidenced by our visible and active response to disasters, including the monumental flood disaster in Nigeria in the year 2012; We deepened the sense of belonging amongst our members; We elevated our constitutional and legislative engagements, particularly our efforts to secure protective provisions for the health rights of Nigerians in the expected amendment of the 1999 Nigerian constitution, as well as our determined push for the passage of the National Health Bill and other health-related bills;

Truly, as part of our broad policy objective, we had to work very hard to inject a greater sense of purpose, relevance, respect, discipline, constitutionalism, cohesion and harmony in NMA and the Medical Profession. In line with this, we convoked an all-embracing and historic 1st NMA National Health Summit which was successfully held in Asaba, Delta State from January 20-27, 2013, and during which many of the internal and external challenges facing us as an association and profession were courageously unfurled and addressed.

We have also constantly maintained our focus on strategies for engendering an improved healthcare delivery system in Nigeria through the phased institution of our home grown clinical governance model in health institutions in various states of Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory.

These, in addition to numerous other programs, including our campaign for healthy living and legislation of an Annual Health check-up at all levels of government in Nigeria; our successful push for the reconstitution and inauguration of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) and other Health Regulatory Councils; our organization of the NMA Maiden National Doctors Games; and our participation at the 2014 National Conference/Confab, clearly defined our leadership of the NMA.

Though one can unequivocally state that as an NOC we came, we saw and we substantially acquitted ourselves, one must admit that there are still lots of challenges, programs, projects and developmental issues to be addressed by the Association, particularly the rising incidence of quackery. Certainly, our NOC never had any illusion that we had all the answers to the myriad of problems and challenges confronting our Association. Truly, we had no illusion that we could address all the Association’s burgeoning challenges in just two years.

 

APPRECIATION

It is imperative at this stage that one appreciates our Almighty and immanent creator whose grace and protection kept us on these past two years. His abiding wisdom ensured that we never struggled in error and that we had the strength and health to pilot the affairs of our Association.

My sincere gratitude also goes to all members of our National Officers Committee (NOC). This was one NOC that made unparalleled sacrifices for the prosperity of our Association, medical profession, healthcare delivery system and country. I thank God for giving me a unique, committed and patriotic set of National Officers.

I also pay tribute to all our members, particularly members of the National Executive Council, State and FCT branch Chairmen and their respective State Officers Committee, Past Presidents and National Officers of NMA, Medical and Dental elders for their stoic support, patience and understanding during our very challenging and engaging tenure.  

We greatly cherish the unflagging and firm support, tolerance, patience, and encouragement given to us by our spouses. Their support was a vital ingredient that propelled us and helped to oil the NMA engine of progress, growth and development.

We are profoundly grateful to our brothers and sisters in the fourth estate of the realm and other personalities, too numerous to mention, that supported our mission and vision.

To all those whose toes we inadvertently stepped on in the course of revving the engine of our progressive re-engineering agenda, we sincerely ask them to have a place in their hearts for forgiveness and reconciliation, as we never set out to deliberately step on toes. It was all in the course of making our modest contributions to our Association, healthcare delivery in Nigeria, and governance in Nigeria.

As we prepare to officially hand over the baton, we are truly convinced that ‘Together we came; together we saw; together we killed several lions that threatened our professional, organizational and national existence; and together we overcame and acquitted ourselves’.

Our prayer is for God to grant the in-coming NMA national leadership all the needed resources to excel and surpass our achievements in office.

I thank you and welcome you to actively participate in our 54th AGC/ADM.

 

The struggle continues!

 

Long Live Nigerian Medical Association!!

Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!

 

DR. OSAHON ENABULELE, M.B; B.S, FWACP, MHPM

President, Nigerian Medical Association (2012-2014);

Vice President (WAR), Commonwealth Medical Association.

Email: [email protected]