TheCable

This is a direct message to His Excellency the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu. My brother it is wild out here o. Our medical profession has gone to the dogs occasioned by this Covid pandemic.

Our health practitioners emboldened by the seeming lethargy of government have all but become medical mercenaries with Nigerians suffering massively. Stories abound of how positive results can change instantly to negative with as little as N35,000. Private testing centres cashing out with all sort of spurious results. I have heard of someone testing positive in one lab and crossing to the other lab just next door to test negative.

Nigerians have tested negative here and taken off to other countries and tested positive at the airports. All these are simple not even an issue since most of the cases that are mild can be treated with just OTC drugs. The issue is where doctors or hospitals will now give you a fake positive so that you can be lured into their care. We are now hearing of cases of bands of doctors who offer home care services at N200,000 per visit.

Private accredited hospitals charging as high as N5m to manage the illness and others paying like N150,000 per day to remain in Ambulances cos there are no bed spaces anymore in the isolation centres.

It is wild out here and I don’t know if you even know what is happening. Your Excellency whatever happened to your initial aggressive posture towards this Virus. What happened to your hands on, sleeve rolled up approach? You have dropped the ball o and that is why these medical mercenaries and journey men have now taken advantage of the situation to fleece Nigerians.

Everybody is now selling supplements. Everybody from Professors of Medicine down to the trader in the molue and housewives. They bandy these supplement as preventive therapy for Covid. Where is the pharmaceutical Regulation council or what do they call themselves. Where is NMA who instead of fighting for sanity in their profession are busy looking for better offers outside the country.

Your Excellency, I hear the risk allowance for the medical personnel at the Isolation Centres cannot even buy a Bag of rice. Why na oga. Why na. why wont they now be doing all these nonsense on the side after risking their lives. What is even so hard to provide PPE for all medical frontline people in Lagos. A Bank in Nigeria has all their staff in branches wear PPE so why cant the Government even do that one instead of coming to be crying with us that doctors are dying from Covid. Which kind country did I come like this?

The Virus is even not what is killing us, it is the negligence, the ineptitude, the greed and the corruption that has built up around this Virus and that is why the general population couldn’t careless about the protocols. The whole thing sha just looks so deceptive and wrong.

Please my governor can’t we even train very quickly 10,000 health workers immediately to expand capacity. Can’t we register some more accreditation centres, cant we expand capacity in the isolation centre? These Doctors are killing us o. How do you expect someone with minimum wage to test a family of five at N51,270 per test.  This is wicked. You even charge VAT and service charge? Madness. Just test o and you say we are under testing. Even at the Government testing centre na N35,000. Go in disguise, shave your beards and go and attempt to test and you will see how much you will pay.

It is chaos my brother and you remain the governor – do something ooo.