It’s on record that Nigerian leadership is very careless about the future of our youths in this country. They have their children abroad, enjoying the wealth of the citizens, living large and feeding their lusts while showing lackadaisical attitudes towards the future of the youths. If right-thinking individuals fail to raise their voices for FUTA and the future of its medical students, these promising youths may spend 10 to 12 years in medical school for a programme intended to last 6 years because of preventable occurrences.
There is no doubt that Nigeria is battling with serious challenges as a nation. To start with, it’s obvious that we are being ruled by criminals. As Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has rightly said, most of the people ruling the country currently should be in prison; even some of them deserve to be executed. Unfortunately for the nation, these are the individuals deciding the fate of the most populous black country. So what do you expect? Initially, this nation looked promising, parading politicians like Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, popularly known as Zik of Africa, a mentor to Mr Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana, formerly known as the Gold Coast. Also, the presence in the political atmosphere of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, Sir Anthony Enahoro, Adekunle Ajasin, Festus Okotieboh, and others before independence gave great hope to the country, though that was short-lived. Suddenly, all the expectations became a mirage; at present, it will take divine intervention to even know the way forward because we are currently retrogressing.
It’s easier for us as a nation to act quickly in anything that will bring pain to the masses or where corrupt leaders will feed their unquenchable lusts. However, anything that could lead to a great future for us as a country is met with bureaucratic bottlenecks that delay such a programme. No doubt, the University of Ibadan, which is the premier university, established by the colonial masters to promote education among the black continent, started medical training with its first set undergoing clinical training in UK hospitals after preclinical training in the headquarters of the old western region. One of the earlier sets, who later became the first black plastic surgeon, Prof. Oluwasanmi of the popular Joe-Jane Hospital in Akure, in his autobiography, provided insight on how the entire medical training had evolved to its current enviable status in the country. It’s an unquestionable fact that Nigerian doctors remain among the best in the world. The fact that Western and Arab worlds are poaching our esteemed doctors at every available opportunity shows the excellent nature and quality of training that Nigerian doctors receive, despite the harsh environment for learning.
Though Nigerian leadership, with the same attitude towards other sectors of the economy, has never valued medical personnel in the country, leading to massive exodus in search of greener pastures. The Federal University of Technology, Akure, which was among the third generation of federal universities in the country, distinguished itself through various international adventures with global recognition, and established a medical school after several years of hue and cry by concerned people in the state who believed it was long overdue. I remember vividly that Senator Tayo Alasoadura, who represented Ondo Central in the Red Chamber between 2015 and 2019, under whose purview Akure falls, took it upon himself, along with some Oyemekun elders, to lobby the Alhaji Muhammad Buhari-led government and ensured the medical school became a reality. From the undeniable facts at my disposal, the first set of future medical doctors in training are currently in 300 level, preparing for their MBBS exams that will promote them to 400 level. For those who are familiar with medical training, the students will be transferred to teaching hospitals when they pass their MBBS exams and will subsequently be referred to as being in the clinical years, i.e., 400 to 600 level, during which they will spend most of their time in the teaching hospital.
I recently called out Senator Adeniyi Adegbonmire SAN, currently representing Ondo Central in Abuja, just to provoke him to action, not to malign his personality. I learned that the bills for the establishment of the FUTA Teaching Hospital are at second reading in the Senate. As a responsible leader, our senator, popularly called Omo-Ekun, a scion of the Adegbonmire political dynasty, narrated his tireless efforts so far, for which I appreciated him. However, like Oliver Twist, I would ask for more; I think the response has been very slow from the parliamentarians, knowing fully well that the future of the medical students in FUTA, not less than 150, who are our tomorrow’s great surgeons, pathologists, physicians, and other specialists is at stake. At this stage, while other paperworks are ongoing, the responsibility now lies with every reasonable citizen in the state to put pressure on the presidency and state government to act urgently to save the future of these students.
As I have suggested in my earlier writings, the Ondo State government should cede the State Specialist Hospital in Akure to the federal government for use as a temporary hospital until a befitting permanent site is ready, which may take decades. Many Akure organisations at home and abroad should support this honourable idea. Although some people suggested that FMC Owo should be upgraded to a teaching hospital, I don’t believe this is right; in the spirit of fairness, this should be opposed, as it would create problems for the students and the management of the institution in the future. It’s better not to create unnecessary trouble for the nascent medical college by running it as multi-campus centres. It’s less cumbersome when the teaching hospital and the parent university are in the same community e.g UI and UCH in Ibadan, OAU and OAUTHC in Ile-ife, Uniben and UBTH in Benin, Uniilorin and UITH in Ilorin, etc. This is a win-win situation; when the State Specialist Hospital in Akure, which incurs over 225 million naira monthly in salaries for its staff, is transferred to the federal government, such huge amounts can be rechannelled to revamp the health sector by the state government.
I think it’s high time for Akure’s political elders and traditional institutions to reunite to rescue FUTA and the future of these students. If Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, fails to help the largest kingdom in Ondo State in this regard, then the over 60% of votes given to him by the good people of the Sunshine State would be a waste. After all, his government recently took over the General Hospital, Epe, now Federal Medical Centre, Epe, despite several federal government-owned health institutions like LUTH, FMC Ebute-Metta, and high-standard military and paramilitary hospitals. The State Specialist Hospital in Akure can also serve as the temporary site for the FUTA Teaching Hospital; otherwise, Asiwaju should forget Ondo State in 2027.
Dr Akeredolu O.N. is from the Owo-Ose axis of Ondo State. He resides in Akure.