Socialities and materialities of a group of people are intricately interwoven with a given environmental setting and of course, history. Indeed, the robustness of humanity is a function of a responsibly managed environment embracing such specifics as soils, vegetation, air, water, and climate. Therefore, the issue of environmental degradation is too profound to be poorly handled by the Nigerian government as well as the ordinary people. There should be no space for politicisation of it (environmental management including public health). Polluting the above environmental specifics by adding harmful substances to them as a result of our behavioural patterns is an invitation to community poverty. Open defecation, oil spillage, toxic fumes and smoke from power generators, noise pollution, and flooding among other factors endanger the health of the population.
Certainly, the present and the future are being jeopardised.
Health challenges like respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disorder, malaria, diarrhoea, and a serious nutrient deficiency especially in children are generally connected to environmental pollution. It is too easily forgotten by the government that a sickly society cannot engage in full-scale economic productions. This is an encumbrance to sustainable development in a number of senses. Radiant health is an important component of a people’s welfare. It is much cheaper and far wiser for the government to give a bigger space to prioritisation, so that the scarce resources can be properly channelled into public healthcare systems and of course, education. This is embedded in the sphere of preventive medicine as opposed to chemotherapy including other therapies.
It is time to overhaul the public health policies in Nigeria. This is with a view to making them capable of addressing the numerous medical challenges confronting the country. Most water bodies are seriously polluted by toxic household and industrial wastes. It is a pity that many Nigerians are living inside refuse. Refuse mounds especially in market places have become common “architectural features” of contemporary Nigeria, as the stakeholders look the other way. The same thing applies to the roadsides including expressways. Fish from polluted water bodies are not safe for human consumption. But sadly, these ‘poisoned’ aquatic resources finally go to our stomach, leading to a wide range of health issues and problems.
In the long run, imaginary witches and/or wizards get the blame, for what is clearly due to a dysfunctional political leadership culture. In addition, crude oil spillage in most parts of the Niger Delta remains a monster to be tamed, as the marginalised locals continue to drink crude oil-polluted water. Large numbers of different kinds of plants and animals are being destroyed daily, thus creating an ecological disequilibrium. Fishing and farming, the most popular livelihoods of the local people are being paralysed. One consequence of this ugly situation is aggravated material poverty coupled with insecurity. Both regular oil spill and gas flaring have combined to worsen the health statuses of most people of the region.
The above scenario is a good illustration of an application of modernisation theory to development matters in Nigeria-a microcosm of Africa. This is a glorified case of neo-colonialism or Westernisation that has no room for a bottom-up process of empowerment or development. In other words, the locals do not matter in the “development” agenda of their region(s). Mutational disorders leading to deformities in children may not be uncommon in the Niger Delta region now and in the future. The political leaders have to begin to pay much more attention to the issue of public healthcare, even as the life expectancy of Nigerians is about 60 years for men and 63 years for females.
It is a sad commentary on the state of the government, that the medical doctor-population ratio is still very low. This means that most Nigerians do not have access to modern medical care. According to the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), this country has approximately one doctor to about 10,000 people. This is a world away from the subtle recommendation of the World Health Organisation (WHO) which says that there should be one medical doctor to 600 people or patients. Nigeria has about 24,000 medical doctors to attend to over 200 million people.
But despite this poor scenario, the government is still paying starvation wages to the available doctors. No motivation for them to work more efficiently. Even the university academics are also shabbily treated by “the powers that be”. The political leadership does not care a hoot! This is one main reason why more and more medical doctors and university academics are leaving the country for such places as the US, UK, Canada, Germany, and Australia on a daily basis. There is a dearth of rational thought in the Nigerian vocabularies of politics. The political leadership needs to change this appalling narrative by righting a wrong that bedevils Nigeria-the most populous geo-polity in the Black world. Nigeria’s recurrent budgets have to be reduced drastically because over spending and/or corrupt practices is/are killing the country slowly.
Thus, for example, Nigerian political offices are unjustifiably (and unpatriotically too) the juiciest in the world. This scenario is driving many Nigerians even without elementary emotional intelligence crazy. Nigeria needs a new era where both the leaders and the led especially at the grassroots level, will be dancing together in the interest of the common good. This political philosophy is the foundation of sustainable development which remains elusive in the extreme. Up to now, the country is naively celebrating a neo-colonial mode of philosophy. Not surprisingly, economic sustainability or empowerment has no space to stand, as our political leaders continue to engage in empty rhetoric with uncommon artistry.
Government must adopt an aggressive posture on public health and material poverty as a sign of charismatic leadership. Local people especially their leaders can become agents for the promotion of good sanitation and healthy living in general. Wooden and metal gongs are some of the effective indigenous mass media instruments being used in our rural communities. Public health officers need to collaborate with the grassroots people on such issues as food and personal hygiene. This is an integrated methodological approach that builds bridges between the leaders and the led in order to mitigate community poverty among other things. Abject poverty dehumanises. It is a fact, that telehealth services are limited in scope largely due to the excessive urban bias by the leadership. The grassroots people must be seen as partners in progress. Governance is a serious, people-sensitive business in several respects. It is neither an exercise in posturing nor an attempt to engage in unfettered corruption due to maximum spiritual deficiency. Therefore, overseas trips by our leaders have to be drastically (and reasonably too) reduced. Solutions to Nigeria’s problems are largely rooted in the country, even though globalisation is an important component of modern-day politics. It is submitted here, that uncaring, corrupt, and self-opinionated leaders must get the boot through the lens of the legislature. In this connection, the followership cannot afford to be docile. The leaders must be ultimately accountable to the Nigerian people if indeed, we are serious about environmental sustainability, public health, and economic progress.
- Prof Ogundele is of Dept. of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan.