by Olorunfemi Owoyemi

Good governance across boards is the way forward for us. Lives will continue to be at risk as long as the leadership is self-indulgent, non-chalant and laid back. 

As at the time of writing this article, it’s been 22 days since the EVD was imported into the country and there are 10 confirmed cases of infection while 177 primary and secondary contacts with the index case (Mr. Sawyer) are under surveillance. Lagos has a way of being swift in responding to matters that may cripple its essence. Something about the quality of governance defines the quality of the healthcare system. I am of the opinion that response to containment of spread and contact-tracking and surveillance would have taken a longer period if the entry point had been through another state of the federation.

It has taken a crisis like Ebola for our governments to become responsible. Suddenly, the same leaders asking for US$1billion some weeks ago now have N1.9billion to cough out to control the spread of the disease in the country. Not just that, we have posed, once again, as the “big brother” that we are  by giving US$3.5million to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia to help fight the scourge. Aren’t we just, inarguably, giant of Africa?! ? We could have been a better big brother if it was the vaccines we were handing down to Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. We would have been able to raise our shoulders high if we were giving real, working solutions to Africa’s problems and not just cash.

I have met and I am currently being trained by some of the best virologists in the world and they are Nigerians. The Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria exists and there are Colleges of Medicine in the country with virology departments. With the intellectual resources we have in areas of virology, if we have had a responsible, responsive, proactive and less corrupt leadership with the element of foresight, we could have been in a better stead right now. So, why are we begging and hurling curses at the US for not giving us a serum that we are unsure works? What have we been doing with the human resource we have in our medical research establishments?

Let’s agree to this one fact before I proceed. Corruption is the first reason why we are where we are and by that I don’t just mean government alone. Our level of corruption is endemic. It has eaten deep and no one is spared. Our orientation is so skewed that we would rather indulge our pleasures rather than save a dying neighbor. It takes corruption for funds to be released; it is apportioned corruptly and it is expended corruptly. We may not have documents or videos to prove but then, we are not blind. The state is no longer priority, it is “self” that is. In the face of a life threatening epidemic like ebola, we cannot even guarantee that half of the N1.9billion released will reach the intended agencies that should work with it.

We don’t have an environment that promotes serious research; or how does a research institute conduct any meaningful research when power outage remains a perennial problem. Some researchers have had to get their own power source – inverters installed in their labs so that they can observe and study cultures. Somehow, when we talk about constant power supply, we have never thought about its immediate and remote consequences on healthcare. Well, now you see. So when research grants and national budgetary are disbursed, how well do our researchers utilize them? How totally committed are they to their research? A few years in research and it can be said that the money to be made is the greatest motivation for researchers who chase foreign grants. The knowledge to be obtained from the research is only secondary. A research grant for a research from, for example, Forgaty International is enough to make a man. We’re not thinking of saving the world anymore, we’re too busy trying to be comfortable. Our think is still very shallow like that.

The two doctors that helped with the containment of the spread in Liberia seem to be recovering after being given varying doses of ZMapp, a third person, a Spanish priest who also was being treated with the drug died of Ebola yesterday. So, why did the Spaniard die and the Americans live? We do not know. What doses will be given before cure can be guaranteed, we do not know. What are the side effects of ZMapp – is it toxic to any organ of the body? Is it capable of causing permanent behavioural change in humans who ingest it? We do not know. Why don’t we have answer? Because ZMapp had only passed Preclinical phase of assessment. It had only been administered on monkeys, not man.

From Preclinical stage to Clinical Phase 1-4, it takes a minimum of nine years for a new drug to be approved for human consumption by the Food and Drug Agency, US. Its equivalent is NAFDAC in Nigeria. I am unaware that we have originally discovered any drug for any ailment and it had to go through approval from NAFDAC before being put up for sale. Thus, the US standard remains what we follow for testing of new drugs. ZMapp, the serum produced by the US company – Mapp Bio has been touted to be the possible savior of sufferers from Ebola. Right now, we can’t be certain. However, it is the only closest thing to cure that we have at the moment.

Good governance across boards is the way forward for us. Lives will continue to be at risk as long as the leadership is self-indulgent, non-chalant and laid back. Ebola was discovered in Africa but we did not have any prompting to seek to understand the disease and its etiology. A very important of leadership is foresight and that seems to be lacking among our leaders. The porousness of our borders is something to brood over – anything and anyone finds its way into the country. Since the discovery of ebola in West Africa what measures did officials of the immigrations take to ensure that potential, inbound passengers were screened especially from these countries? Anthrax, SARS, Bird Flu, HIV/AIDS are other viruses that have ravaged humanity and certainly, ebola will not be the last virus to plague the earth. What lessons have we learned from the situation on our hands? Are we willing to sit-tight and get our acts together to face impending challenges of the future?

Sadly, I’m not even sure that we’re repentant enough to change our approach to governance and our affairs as a people after we deal with ebola. Like many socio-political analysts have said, we forget things too soon. No one would care when it is all over. Those in the corridors of power have a stash of cash and valid visas to leave the country anytime they wish. It gets better as they can chatter a plane or fly their private airplanes and flee the country when we get caught in the thicket. You see, that is why you must steal; so that you can scamper away in times of crises.

Between health and governance, welcome to the intersection.

 

———————–

 Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.