Abroad, Nigerian professionals have proved their mettle, capacity and efficiency in their respective disciplines; but at home, they just seem not to be up to par, as the nation continues to groan under mediocre challenges. David Lawal, who recently spoke to Prof Ade Ojeniyi, a well-traveled medical practitioner and visiting professor at the University of Texas, School of Public Health in Houston, Texas, found out why.
All over the world, Nigerians continue to excel in their different disciplines, affecting their adopted countries or places of work positively. But the story continues to be different at home, even when some of them relocate to the country. Prof. Ade Ojeniyi, who holds doctoral degrees in both veterinary and human medicine, however insists that Nigerian professionals remain top-notch, blaming the situation at home for the shortfall.
The professor in an exclusive interview with The Nation lamented that the professionalism and skills of these professionals are hampered by so many factors that introduce many variables in their functionality when they return to the country to practise.
The one-time Chief Physician and Government Medical Advisor to the Ministry of Health in Greenland, USA, identified the lack of power supply, lack of equipment, as well as the lack of drugs (for medical practitioners) as major impediments.
The professor also cited security, as a major factor that compromises the energy, enthusiasm, devotion, conviction and truism of Nigerian professionals once they to relocate to Nigeria.
The Denmark-based professor also condemned the level of noise pollution in the country. Aside transporters, whom he said make unnecessary noise on the road, he cited religious activities as a major source of noise pollution.
“The noise pollution is just deafening. When somebody returns from work and finds people shouting ‘Jesus is coming’ in his neighbourhood, then it becomes impossible for such a person to rest his head. And then at 7pm, the Arabic people start with loudspeakers, shouting ‘Allah Akbar’.
“If you say your religion is the best and it is a personal thing, why do you want to disturb your neighbour? Noise damages or lowers the loop of people that are exposed to it.
“If somebody does that in my wife’s country (Denmark), within 10 minutes, there would be a Police car and an ambulance with a doctor to take such a person to the psychiatric ward.”
Speaking about the level of concentration at the workplace from the perspective of a professional surgeon, Ojeniyi observed that sometimes you may be doing something and the electricity distribution company decides to interrupt power supply. He also said somebody may come in for some a treatment, which may require that you do something right away; but power outage may prevent you from moving immediately, which implication may be grave.
“It is just difficult for you to concentrate on a major operation per time because of so many interfering factors from the government to individuals and even other societal issues,” he said.
Ojeniyi however noted that going on industrial actions may not be the best way for medical professionals to express their grievances. For a medical professional to go on strike, he said the situation has to be extremely serious. Even then, he said they still must ensure that emergency services are maintained.
Currently a visiting professor at the University of Texas, School of Public Health in Houston, Texas, Ojeniyi said: “Industrial action can be based on several things: one, is it because of selfishness, is it because of greed, or is it because you are frustrated that you can’t give that service you really want to give because of lack of certain necessities, or because of passion.”
He therefore maintained that it is difficult to condemn strike actions in the medical system outright.
He disclosed: “We have also gone on strike in Denmark where things work perfectly. Maybe over just a tiny thing. And when they take action, it could be for one hour or two hours, but that one or two hours would be felt by the society because everything goes smoothly.
“So ideally, there shouldn’t be reasons for any strike but frustrations many times necessitate their attention because when they do not draw attention, it is ignored. And when the attention is gained, you discover that it is bureaucrats, who have no idea of what medicine means that are taking the decisions.”