This is a shame! It is a shame because Nigeria does not provide leadership in Africa except in stealing and corruption. Other African countries have gaps that they have to address. Ours are not gaps but canyons of corruption. We have lost all the rights to be a leading voice on the continent. No other country handles donor monies irresponsibly like Nigerians do… It is total and complete assault to deny the needy access to lifesaving vaccines and medicines because of personal greed.
After the rescue of Alheri Buba, the kidnapped 13 year old girl from Bauchi, Vivien Bello-Osagie wrote me on the need to help girls kidnapped by Boko Haram who returned to their communities with HIV. Like every other victory, I had no time to celebrate Alheri’s rescue. Getting HIV from repeated rape from abductors is one thing, but getting help to cope with the disease is another. It is a big problem getting into the programme to get the HIV drugs needed to stay alive. The only organisation that has it together is the military. Years ago, I got a dear friend to get tested after suffering repeated bouts of Malaria. He tested positive. My heart was broken, but I had no time to grieve; I needed to support him and help him avoid the stigma. That exposed me to the shady world of HIV drug administration in Nigeria. We went from pillar to post. Finally, we found Hope Foundation, tucked into a serene nondescript environment along Ikorodu road at Obanikoro. Immediately I told them I was not positive, they excluded me and took him in. They denied me access to every information about him henceforth, which I respect and even admire. They treated him well, with dignity and respect but they charged money. It was called administrative fees. I enrolled five more people in the programme and accompanied them on occasions to see the level of care. I helped them monitor their CD4 count and supplied Selenium, once I found out the cells needed that trace element to multiply.
Everything was fine until three years later. Two of them developed pneumonia and I lost one. I almost lost another. I was aghast! Had they stopped using their medications? I was aware they still attended night vigil and crusades, where they get bitten mercilessly by mosquitoes and get exposed to pneumonia and tuberculosis given their compromised immune system. Being Nigerians, they believed they would one day be healed through faith. I suspected something might have gone wrong with the medications because all of them were in poor health. With enough suspicion, I visited Hope Foundation with one of them and that visit haunts me till date. I saw sufferers with protruding eyeballs like these would fall out. I saw people with very scaly peeling skin. I was livid and started investigating. By God! Hope Foundation got adulterated drugs and many lives were lost due to these. One of their doctors died in the process. I was devastated! The Nigerian end shafted the most vulnerable at their time of need and many died. I asked around for alternatives and I was advised to try the military hospital. I moved quickly and transferred my people to Ikeja cantonment. The military hospitals have it together. They are well managed and are accountable. In addition, my “patients” stemmed their exposure to mosquitoes and avoided badly ventilated places like night vigil spaces and there has been no nail biter, no crisis. All these ran through my mind when I thought of how to help terror victims who got HIV through rape. How can I get this done in the North, how is it over there? I kept thinking.
Officials of the health ministry pocketed monies and retired them with falsified receipts which the donors subjected to forensic investigation and discovered the wholesale fraud therein. These officials reportedly use donor funds to buy cars, build houses, train their children in expensive schools in Europe and North America, while victims of communicable diseases for which the monies were meant, were left suffering and dying from them.
Unfortunately, Nigeria is a den of vipers. Since I woke up this morning, my heart has been heavy, my day thoroughly paralysed! Why? The latest information reaching me is that funds from donor agencies for communicable diseases may be cut. The donor agencies are angry as hell. Readers of my column will recall I chronicled how the Ebola fund was looted. Same thing has been happening for all other diseases and the Global Fund, Roll Back Malaria, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, GAVI Alliance and UNAIDS are not taking it lightly. They are demanding accountability and the prosecution of Nigeria health officials who stole monies meant to save Nigerian lives. Officials of the health ministry pocketed monies and retired them with falsified receipts which the donors subjected to forensic investigation and discovered the wholesale fraud therein. These officials reportedly use donor funds to buy cars, build houses, train their children in expensive schools in Europe and North America, while victims of communicable diseases for which the monies were meant, were left suffering and dying from them.
Investigations reveal that the head of the Roll Back Malaria programme in Nigeria single-handedly administers billions of naira worth of donor funds outside of the Ministry of Health. He is running a parallel programme, he travels in business class, sends his children to expensive foreign schools, all on donors funds meant for poor Nigerians. As I write, The Global Fund has suspended cooperation with Nigeria until we put our house in order. They are demanding accountability, transparency and due process. They want these crooked officials investigated and brought to book as a deterrent to others in the healthcare sector. I was reliably informed that they insist this is not “oil money” that health officials are pocketing but taxpayers money from Europe and America. The prevailing consensus is that, this is another litmus test for the anti-corruption agenda of the Buhari administration and they are waiting to see what will be done to these erring health officials. The names of these officials are also known to all the aid agencies. They are all waiting to see what President Buhari and EFCC will do.
$1.2 billion has been given by Global Funds since 2003 to 2014 and the health indicators in the country haven’t changed. Now, they are suspending the $1.2 billion in assistance accruable to Nigeria between 2015 and 2017 because of corruption. If we have a clean and transparent system, our entire health system would not have to depend on the Nigerian federal budget to function.
I don’t understand why we are like this. While some of us are trying to change things on a shoestring budget from our little corners, these health officials are damaging our efforts and robbing us of the moral voice in advocacy for our vulnerable and at-risk populations. $1.2 billion has been given by Global Funds since 2003 to 2014 and the health indicators in the country haven’t changed. Now, they are suspending the $1.2 billion in assistance accruable to Nigeria between 2015 and 2017 because of corruption. If we have a clean and transparent system, our entire health system would not have to depend on the Nigerian federal budget to function. But thieves in the health sector stole Nigeria senseless under the Jonathan administration.
This is a shame! It is a shame because Nigeria does not provide leadership in Africa except in stealing and corruption. Other African countries have gaps that they have to address. Ours are not gaps but canyons of corruption. We have lost all the rights to be a leading voice on the continent. No other country handles donor monies irresponsibly like Nigerians do. Where is the Hippocratic oath they swore to as doctors? How can a few individuals entrusted with saving lives, divert the money given by foreign donors to taking care of their children in Marquee European Universities and Ivy league schools in North America? It is total and complete assault to deny the needy access to lifesaving vaccines and medicines because of personal greed. Like it happened in Hope Foundation six years ago, we cannot count those who have died or been rendered with permanent disabilities because of the activities of these thieves. President Buhari and EFCC, over to you!
Bámidélé Adémólá-Olátéjú a farmer, youth advocate and political analyst writes this weekly column – “Bamidele Upfront” for the Premium Times. Follow me on Twitter @olufunmilayo
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