Decade Blogs - Oyedeji Aderemi - Killing Ourselves Softly

Decade Blogs

Another doctor I successfully persuaded to contribute to my #YourBlogOnMyBlog Series commemorating my Decade of Blogging, who goes by the portmanteau English-Yoruba name of GreatIse [Great Work].

Blog - To Celebrate My Decade of Blogging

Indeed, I am proud to have such a brought spectrum of people from all walks of life, of all ages, accomplishments and in professions too diverse to mention.

Dr. Oyedeji Aderemi in the midst of the suffering and pain he encounters daily on Nigerian hospital wards brings a great sense of perspective, humour, humility and groundedness that enlivens Twitter with good humanity.

He is a friend to two very wonderful friends of mine and I look forward to meeting him in the not too distant future.

He blogs at iseoluwa.blogspot.com, and his Twitter handle is @greatise.

Through the eyes of a doctor in Nigeria, GreatIse brings us round to understanding what the Nigerian problem is, a clear diagnosis of we, the people presenting the symptoms of total chaos, disarray, dysfunction and an avoidable mortality rate. Our morbid reality might just reveal some truths about us. Read and reflect.

Killing Ourselves Softly

I think we are too angry as a people, and we direct our anger and bitterness towards the wrong people since the root cause of the problem is beyond our reach and sometimes when we find ourselves in their presence, we are mute, overawed by their presence and the power they wield.

That said, I started thinking some days ago about the state of my nation, and the continuous shovelling of the blame down the throats of our leaders. I decided to step back and take a second look and I started seeing that we, the followers, are the major culprit. But too many political talks out there, so I shall eschew from saying much about politics and my nation Nigeria.

I do not want to talk about the security situation of the State I live in, the spate of kidnappings of medical personnel and the killing of a senior colleague recently. Is it the pain and the sadness of my patients or the way healthcare costs as further impoverished them, the tales of many lives lost on bad Nigerian roads and the inability of the existing health infrastructure to give them a chance to live?

Two years ago, this year a dear friend died following motor vehicular accident injuries she sustained that the hospital failed to manage appropriately. The faces of patients I have lost due to none availability of appropriate medical equipment still haunts me occasionally, I remember each face, and it is not enough to tell the stories of men and women rendered barren, the families torn asunder and the orphaned children. The many abandoned children and the elderly dependant ones thrown into the bush because their family members believe they are evil!

While we die due to the non-availability of required equipment, we die from lack of appropriate manpower, bad road networks, fear of what the police will say if we help a gunshot wound victim and from our greed! Yes our greed kills us daily; it kills the unborn child, the pregnant women and the ailing elderly! The young energetic ones are not left out, amputated limbs that could have been salvaged. We kill ourselves in instalments also, daily with our habits, valuing the show of affluence over good health. It is our choices that kills us one choice at a time, daily we stare death in the face and we know it not!

This is supposed to be a happy write up to celebrate a man I have never met nor spoken to as I type this, but one with a passion for his country.

Sigh! I watch my sons play and I keep asking myself, does Nigeria have anything to offer them in terms of security, healthcare and education? So here we are, our health sector is in a shambles, our politicians jet out for medical treatment, the poor populace dies in droves, oppressing each other as they plunge to their deaths, oblivious that they aid in killing one another; one choice at a time.