Dear Mr. President
It is with a heavy heart that I sit down to write Your Eminence. As
a conscious, patriotic and progressive youth, I could not help but register my
dissatisfaction with my country’s plight alongside a volley of plea to your
administration to rescue this dire situation. Excuse the curtness of my
manners. The intensity of my pain has almost robbed me entirely of formality.
My passionate plea is not for a personal gain but for a revision of
government’s position on issues of health, poverty and education, the
individual components forming the fulcrum around which our collective
development and glory as a nation revolve.
Sir, I read the disapproving remarks you made at the 58th general
conference of the Nigeria Medial Association (NMA) concerning the unpleasant
effects of various strike actions embarked upon by the country’s health
professionals on the nation’s health. With a commensurate level of concern –
and perhaps more, I have found myself under the onus of speaking on this trend
with a view to achieving an impressive turn in events.
By the same token, a flush of reassurance stole my heart when I read
your solemn promise, alongside the Senate President, to release the 1%
Consolidated Revenue Fund to cater for health needs – in line with the National
Health Act of 2014. This is a remarkable development. There is, however, still
far more to be done to make this administration the true, long-awaited group of
heroes.
Sir, I will always be reminded to say that nothing has been more
pleasant about the present administration than President Muhammadu Buhari’s
unconditional devotion to unceasingly protect the interest of the citizenry. In
many of your words, Your Eminence has always reiterated your unfaltering
devotion to putting your country first. Sir, I am a fan of your confession for
being for everyone, and, today, Your Excellency, I seek to invoke that spirit
of selflessness and dedication to the common man's good to seek your favour pro
bono publico (for the public good).
Mr. President, it is always interesting to know that Nigeria has a
fantastic population of a hundred and eighty million people – conservatively.
Unfortunately, this feeling of national pride is not without an admixture of an
aching sore. The country’s high death toll owing to a gross inadequacy of our
health sector is the source of this enormous pain.
In a statistic that will shake the cruelest heart, sir, the 2006
UNICEF State of the World’s Children Report reveals that about 580,000 mothers
die from pregnancy-related causes – annually, while close to 750,000 children
are buried amid bitter tears before their fifth birthday. It is also a thing of
national shame that our dear country loses $1bn to medical tourism every year
whilst forfeiting its thousands of well-trained medical professionals who
continually search for greener pastures to other countries ― no thanks to the
inadequate resources channeled toward maintaining the country’s health sector.
It is exceedingly disturbing that the country has set aside only a paltry
₦1,500 – according to an analysis – to be spent on our individual health needs.
As if it never happened, sir, the country seems to have totally
forgotten the Abuja Declaration. Since there are piles of documents that
struggle for your presidential attention, may I be honoured to remind you of
the promise our dear country made some seventeen years ago. On April 1, 2001,
heads of states of African Union countries met and pledged to set at least 15%
of their annual national budget to improve the health sector. While the duo of
Rwanda and South Africa have attained this praiseworthy target, it's
disappointing and dissatisfying that the purported Giant of Africa is nowhere
within sight. Instead of progressing we have only continued to stagnate. In
fact, the situation has gone for the worse with the 2018 budget which has
considered a ridiculous 3.95 percent for our healthy subsistence in the
national budget. For years, we have depended on aids to tackle diseases like
HIV and Polio.
If this deviation from a sealed pact has been ongoing for years
unaddressed, I believe the time is now to hold firmly to that pledge. Now is
the time for the country to shift focus to the deteriorating health sector. And
this will never be possible until the country retraces its position toward the
Abuja pact that stipulates a modest 15% of budgetary allocation to the nation’s
health-related concerns. Another step in the right direction is the release of
the 1% Consolidated Fund Revenue for the health sector. In the name of humanity
and love and for the sake of our collective national development, may I humbly
and passionately solicit that Senate approves the 1% consolidated fund with the
2018 budget as promised, while future efforts would be made at assuming the
aforesaid 15% target.
It is a ridiculous and unspeakable source of collective shame to
humanity that an incredible 130 million girls are out of school, when a report
has exposed that it costs less than a loaf of bread or a newspaper to educate a
girl in a day. Sir, it is a great source of national disrepute that our dear
country ranked as the 27th for a girl child to get an education. While this is
uncomplimentary, prima facie, a regional consideration tells a more
discouraging reality. With the heinous insurgent incidences of Boko Haram, over
1000 schools have been destroyed in the North while a thousand five hundred
more have been closed as of 2016. Sadly, 52% of girls in the North-East are out
of school.
If the business of the nation is business, there is yet a
fascinating and untold economic yield that accompanies the education of the
girl child. As unbelievable as this may sound, pundits are unequivocal in their
assertion that educating girls to the same level as boys could benefit
developing countries to the tune of at least $112 billion a year. In fact, one
2008 estimate suggested that the failure to educate girls to the same standard
as boys cost developing countries $92 billion a year. This should not be so
incredible. The last prophet of Islam, Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him), has said, “when you educate a woman, you educate a nation”.
Bridging the gender gap could yield an enormous gain in developing countries, a
figure that has been presumed to be between $112 billion and $152 billion
dollars a year, according to 2017 One Campaign paper.
In the face of this resource boom, it is disappointing – though not
surprising – that a massive number of Nigerians still flourish in stark penury.
While poverty may seem an insurmountable impasse for the country, experts have
confidently proposed education to be a potent weapon against the towering
poverty in country. There is an abundance of evidence that countries who have a
more educated population are healthier, wealthier and more stable.
Educating the girl child carries as much importance as increasing
the budgetary allocation for the health sector. This is because education is
light, wealth and power. Girls who do not get educated are at a high risk of
becoming child mothers, are more vulnerable to disease, and suffer the risk of
dying of AIDS.
With the look of things, this cost of our little investment in the
health and educational sectors – especially of the girl child – is too
expensive for us to bear as a developing nation. Sir, an increased health
spending will translate into a healthier and increasingly productive
population, just as an increased educational allocation and monitoring would mean
a healthier, wealthier and more progressive population. Shouldn’t we be more
concerned about people’s lives than infrastructures?
On a final note, I would love to express my cordial greetings to
Your Excellency. It is an honour to be a witness to the milestones your
administration has achieved so far. While I admire your success, let me hasten
to add that there is still so much to achieve. A lot has been done but a lot
more is still undone. My genial wishes to the honorable Senate President, Dr.
Bukola Saraki, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr, Yakubu
Dogara. I sincerely hope the duo would be served copies of this letter of
aching concern.
Olasupo Abideen Opeyemi is a ONE
Champion (one.org) and a fellow of the Young Africa Leadership Initiative
(Regional Leadership Centre). He is the executive director of the award-winning
Brain Builders International; a United Nations recognised and certified SDGs
group. He is also the CEO Brain Builders IT Firm, OPAB Global Consult, OPAB Gas
Station, Soup For Me and OPAB Farms. He hails from Osun State. He can be
reached on abideenolasupo@gmail.com or 2347068775529. He tweets at
@opegoogle
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