Three deaths in a week at three National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) camps during the ongoing 2016 Batch B (Stream 1) orientation have sparked concerns about the state of health and other facilities in those camps. Some Corps members tell their stories
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) says it will probe the death of three Corps members in three camps during the 2016 Batch B (Stream 1) orientation.
Ifedolapo Oladepo died in Kano, Chinyerum Nwenenda Elechi in Bayelsa, and Monday Asuquo Ukeme in Zamfara.
Their death raised questions about the quality of healthcare, residential facilities and food as well as sanitary condition in the camps.
Reacting to their death, which occurred last week, the NYSC Director-General, Brig-Gen Suleiman Kazaure, said all orientation camps were provided with adequate health facilities and personnel to meet emergency needs and make referrals where necessary.
Presenting a report to the Minser of Youths and Sports, Solomon Dalung, in Abuja on Tuesday, Kazaure also defended the NYSC’s response to treating Ifedolapo.
He said: “There are no student doctors as all athe doctors are fully certified by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN).
“The camp clinic in Kano orientation camp, as in all the camp clinics nationwide, runs 24-hour service. Hence, she received atention at 3am on November 28 when her friends brought her from the hostel. The camp clinic in Kano was well stocked with essential drugs for a non-surgical hospital.”
Kazaure added that Ifedolapo died of renal sepsis, an illness she must have had before coming to camp.
However, many Corps members are not happy with the state of facilities in their camps. They complained about lack of drugs and inadequate care in clinics.
A Batch ‘A’ corps member at Paikoro Camp, Niger State, told The Nation that camp doctors, mostly corps members, neglected her friend.
“Doctors in camp are so carefree maybe because they are Corps members like you. They behave anyhow. My friend almost died in camp because of this same negligence. She went to the sick bay to complain of serious chest pain. She was told to go for parade first. She returned from parade with the same pain. The queue was something else. She begged to be attended to immediately as the pain was severe. Her plea fell on deaf ears and by the time she was attended to, she was given just a pain reliever.
“They did not even try to diagnose the cause of the pain. When she went back to her room and laid down on her bed, top bunk, she could not talk anymore. Before she could call her friend on the next bunk, she found herself on the floor. She fell from the bunk and was rushed to the camp clinic. That was when they started running up and down. She was admitted over night while her family was contacted. However she was later redeployed,” she said.
Another corps member serving in Lagos, who simply called himself Opeyemi, said the clinics were not equipped to make diagnosis.
“Considering the facilities, I work at the camp clinic. We only have first aid materials so we can only stabilise and not actually diagnose or treat,” he said.
Chioma, who is at the NYSC Orientation Camp in Kubwa, Abuja, said the clinic lacked drugs.
“On the first day on the field, after registration, they announced that all corps members that were ill should register at the sick bay. They have never joined us for the rigorous trainings.
“The camp clinic is always under- stocked. The people awarded the contract to stock it with emergency drugs always tended to do away with the money and subsequently the clinic waits for philanthropists to donate drugs.
“A pharmaceutical company donated drugs to us recently and we found it all stolen the next day. It is quite sad,” said Chioma.
A Corps member serving in Kano State where the late Ifedolapo died said drugs are not enough.
“We don’t have good health facilities here at all because they don’t have drugs. Drugs are never readily available so most times, when people fall sick, the camp lets them go home. Even very basic drugs are not available. Others just manage themselves the way they can,” she said.
The situation is not very different in Edo State NYSC Camp located in Okada.
A Corps member said she could not get drugs to treat her cold from the clinic.
“Our clinic is not so good. The corper doctors attending to us are good but they don’t have enough drugs. When I came to camp, I had cold and I went to the clinic. They did not have the drugs the doctor recommended so they just gave me one dose of antibiotics. Of course the cold did not go. I still have that cough till now and I have gone to the clinic repeatedly. Sometimes, they will tell me to come back tomorrow that they don’t have the drugs I need today,” she said.
However, the situation is not so bad in some other states where corps members said they got treated in camp.
Obinna Uzoke, a batch ‘A’ Corps member in Lagos State, said he got adequate medical attention when he needed it.
Uzoke said: “I camped at the Ipaja camp. Our camp officials were very attentive and supportive. Our needs or complaints were attended to as soon as we voiced out. The camp soldiers were also kind, they were not too strict.
“I got injured in camp while participating in the athletic competition. i had bruises on both legs and i was immediately attended to. i was rushed to the camp clinic where corps members doctors attended to me though they were supervised by real medical personnel. I also noticed that all drugs required to treat me were readily available.”
Ibukun Durosinmi who is at the Nasarawa NYSC camp, said the testimonies have been good.
“Ever since I came here, I have not been to the clinic before. But those who went there only told me that the clinic attend to those with mild cases such as malaria, fever, and other minor illness. When there are emergencies, I learn they take them to hospitals outside the camp,” she said.
Bisi Zainab who is currently serving in Jigawa State, said she was well catered for at the clinic too.
“I remember when I took ill, I was quickly attended to. The drug may not be perfect but at least it cured my illness,” Zainab said.
Dayo Johnson (not real names) from the Ogun State camp in Sagamu, said the camp clinic runs well.
“The clinic is good. I have seen occasions where they have sent patients in an ambulance to the Ogun State University Teaching Hospital, due to their conditions,” he said.
To address the problems with camp clinics, Dr O. Abiola of Anchors Diagnostic Centre, Ikorodu, advised the NYSC to upgrade the clinics to go beyond first aid.
:The NYSC should focus on administering full treatment aside applying first aid alone otherwise it should just ensure only those medically fit should be in camp,” she said.
Former Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos and the Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Prof Tolu Odugbemi, advised that apart from providing medical facilities, the NYSC should screen corps members.
“There should be proper pre-entry medical checks for the grduates going for NYSC,” he said.
Beyond investigating health issues, corps members also want the DG to know that camp accommodation and toilet facilities, as well as the food, are not the best. However, the situation differs from camp to camp.
The toilets and the food are a sore point for many corps members.
A corps member in the Lagos camp said inadequate toilet facilities forces corps members to practice open defecation, a health and environmental risk.
“The condition of our toilets is very bad so most people result to shot put – that is using nylon to defecate and throwing it away – because they are afraid of getting infection from the toilets.
“Now the faeces are thrown all around that we perceive them even in our hostel halls.
“Last Sunday, after church service we were asked to clean our surroundings. A pit was dug and each corps member was required to throw some of these nylons that contain faeces into the pit using different long sticks. Do you know the implication of that? Somewhere already removing maggots and smelling terribly! Some corps members were actually vomiting. But the soldiers surrounded us and made sure we did it.”
The camp officials are nice and the clinic is functional at the Okuku camp in Kogi State. But Mary, a corps member, said “shot put” is not strange in her camp either because the toilets are dirty.
“The toilet facilities are very poor. They are very dirty and cannot even be used by most of corps members in my halls. So we rely on shot put,” she said.
While Dayo says the Ogun State camp looks good on the outside, he said overcrowding has become its bane.
He said: “The hostels are jam-packed. In my hostel, there are about 50 double bunks, which translates to about 100 people and our room does not have even one fan. We only have three doors and nine windows. It is very stuffy. We find it difficult to sleep at night because of the heat. Also, the toilets are so bad. They have people who come to clean them every day but that does not help. The toilets are too few for thousands of people we have here. They have pit latrines and water closets, yet people keep developing different infections every day.”
But the toilets in Kano State camps do not seem to be so bad.
Ibukun in Kano said: “Honestly things are generally okay here. The environment is good. Our toilet and bathrooms are also okay though not perfect.”
Zainab however said corps members are also to blame for the poor state of the toilets in the Jigawa State camp.
“The toilets are usually clean but we often mess it up and that makes it increasingly difficult for some of us to want to use it,” she said.
Unpalatable meals seem to be common in most camps such that many corps members rely on buying food from the Mammy Market set up with each camp.
Mary complained about the food served in the Kogi camp, saying; “The food we are given is very poor. It can even make you sick if your immune system is not strong so most people rely on food sold in the Mammy market,” she said.
Dayo, like Mary, also prefers to buy his food than eat what the camp’s kitchen provides.
“I don’t eat camp food, I buy food from Mammy market and the food there is quite nice,” he said.
