NMA should welcome Chinese Doctors

Sadly the US and UK have evacuated over 38,296 of their citizens in Nigeria. For a country that received global applause for fighting the Ebola virus to the ground, Nigeria should not have been a quick target for citizens’ evacuation by these two nations. We should also not be surprised, if smaller nations like Ghana, Niger, Mali, Chad, Cameroun and Benin, among others start evacuating their citizens from Nigeria, in anticipation of our expected inability to adequately handle the Covid-19 pandemic as well. No thanks to a series of faux pas’ on our part.

Over the years we have heard sore stories of fake medical personnel doing great damage to our system. But what are the implications of the reported presence ‎of fake doctors in Nigeria?

A major implication of the lack of proper diligence in confirming the credentials of potential employees is lack of confidence in our abilities, including the ability to handle the looming Covid – 19 pandemic, professionally.

Foreign embassies in Abuja and Lagos read Nigerian newspapers and monitor the media. They take note of the kind of slips we make as a nation and document them for their home country. Those who have ever bothered to observe would have noticed that diplomats do not visit our general hospitals for treatment. Much unlike the way our public officers at medium and very high levels run to the UK, Dubai, USA, India and Israel, among other countries, for treatment that is supposed to be available locally. Ironically, some of the doctors that treat them abroad are Nigerians who left for greener pastures due to frustration.

The position of anger presented by the leadership of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) on the invitation of Chinese doctors to come and help in the fight against Covid-19 is therefore a weak attempt to reverse a legend foretold, based on our antecedents. Simple logic should ask: if the biggest construction jobs in Nigeria are given to foreign firms because Nigerian engineers have proved to be unreliable, then why can the same sauce not be served to medical doctors who continue to misdiagnose, forget surgical instruments in patients and mistreat illnesses? The lack of confidence in our doctors did not start today. It started with our leaders and elite who justifiably will not allow local doctors to examine and treat them.

While it may not be the best decision to invite foreign doctors to do what Nigerian doctors should have ordinarily been fully prepared to do, what options stare us in the face? At this point, the only true example of how Covid-19 can be exterminated ‎is China. There is nothing therefore we can do as a nation than to invite their technical expertise. Nigerian doctors were also visited and invited abroad to share their success at fighting Ebola, so seeking foreign help is neither new nor illegal.

For a nation that continues to suffer a lack of adequate number of doctors and equipment, this decision should be saluted. At least, the government is not pretending about the impending double whammy Covid-19 could turn out to be on the work force and socio-economic well-being of Nigeria.

For now, the Nigeria Medical Association should not dampen the spirit of the Chinese doctors that will join them in the ongoing battle against a pandemic foretold. Instead the NMA should mobilise its members to give the Chinese doctors a rousing welcome when they arrive. Housekeeping towards better healthcare services and personnel welfare can be looked at even as the foreign doctors join in Nigeria’s battle. We should know when we cannot actually do some things alone.