Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP)
in 2023, says Nigeria can afford basic necessities as a country, noting that
they are often not prioritised due to incompetent leadership.
In a series of posts published via X on Tuesday, the former
governor of Anambra recalled meeting a young Nigerian who had just graduated
from nursing school in the US and was visiting Nigeria for the first time with
her parents on an Air Peace flight.
Obi said during the trip, the lady shared her “sadness and
confusion” about the current state of Nigeria, while asking questions about why
basic things are difficult to get in the country.
The former governor of Anambra said she narrated her
experience at a government-owned hospital in Nigeria when her sister had a
domestic accident.
“On arrival, even though her sister’s hand was bleeding, the
hospital staff insisted that payment must be made before any treatment could
begin,” Obi wrote.
“Shocked, they asked the hospital attendant whether he truly
did not see the urgency of the situation. In response, they were shown other
patients with even worse conditions who were also being left unattended because
they had not paid.
“They eventually paid, and it was time for the blood test.
Traumatised, they realised the hospital had only one blood-testing machine for
all patients, and it was not being sterilised between uses.
“When she raised concerns that the equipment had not been
properly sterilised, they were bluntly told to stop asking questions if they
wanted her sister to be treated. Despite their payment, they had to buy all the
items needed for her treatment.
“She found it hard to believe because, according to her
training and every hospital she had visited, treatment comes first – payment
comes later.
“She told me they had considered organizing a GoFundMe to
support healthcare back home, but relatives warned them that any money raised
would likely be embezzled.
“Then she said something that struck me deeply: ‘I now
understand what happened to Boxer Joshua. This is why there was no ambulance to
rush him to a nearby hospital’.
“She wondered aloud whether it was simply because the
country is poor. Yet she added that she would willingly offer her skills and
service for free and help raise money to make things better.”
‘FUNDS SPENT TO RENOVATE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE
CAN BUY 400 AMBULANCES’
The former presidential candidate said after listening to
the lady’s lamentation, he encouraged her not to lose hope in the country.
Obi said the money used for the refurbishment of the
International Conference Centre in Abuja and the residence of Vice-President
Kashim Shettima should have been used to buy ambulances for emergency
treatment.
“I painfully replied by encouraging her not to lose hope.
The country is not poor, but it is poorly governed,” he added.
“Nigeria can afford basic necessities, especially critical
and necessary ones, but they are often not considered priorities due to
incompetent leadership.
“A standard ambulance costs about ₦150 million ($100,000).
Nigeria spent ₦39 billion refurbishing the National Conference Centre in Abuja
and ₦21 billion rebuilding the vice president’s residence.
“Those two projects alone—₦60 billion—could have provided
about 400 brand-new ambulances, roughly 11 per state, including the FCT. Had 11
functional ambulances existed in Ogun State, one might have been available for
Joshua.
“Building a primary healthcare centre in a community costs
about ₦75 million. Yet we spent about ₦300 billion ($200 million) on an
additional presidential jet – money that could have built over 4,000 primary
healthcare centres, about 110 per state.
“The only visible value the jet adds is the ability of the
president to occasionally disappear without the public knowing where he is, as
is the case now.”
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