.. FG $400b COVID-19 vaccine allocation maybe a waste
By Achadu Gabriel
The Senator representing kaduna Central in the 8th Senaete Senator Shehu Shehu San said Nigeria is seriously undergoing exploitation now more than ever before.
The erudite comrade Senator who raised the alarm in Kaduna was point blank when he also revealed that $400
billions, soon to be allocated for COVID-19 vaccine, by the federal government, maybe a waste.
Sani who was speaking at the launching of the second edition of magazine of Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) National Ear Care Centre (NECC), Kaduna, on Wednesday noted with dismay that there’s no requisite facilities to achieved any success because of the condition attached to the vaccine.
He said the $400 billion COVID-19 vaccine to be imported required to be installed at minus 70 degree census (-70oc) as a condition, and would be brought to Nigeria through flights or ships to Lagos .
According to Sani, only God knows what would happen between the flight or ships time in view of the minus 70 degree condition attached.
Sani said “ln my lay man knowledge of temperature, a lay man will say, if you put it in fridge, that’s all. What’s the temperature of the normal fridge. So, by the time you move the vaccine from Lagos to katsina, Sokoto, Maiduguri Yola.’ among others, for how many days, and for which electricity are you going to use to be able to stall the vaccine for the temperature of minus 70 degree in Nigeria”, he said.
The activist Senator, who was drawing attention of NECC to the development further stated that, “So, I believe centres like this has a role to play by way of advising politicians on what to do.
He also queried the rationale for importing vaccine where temperature for installing it is unavailable.
“What’s the essence of importing vaccine you’ve no temperature to install. Except everybody will line up in airport and take the shot immediately it landed and go back. But if it has to go to Gombe and Yola, for how many days it’ll pass through the bureaucracy. And if it has 1million people, how many will be able to vaccinated.
“So sometimes you’ve to put in place all this considerations before you do something, if not, you’ll be vaccinating people with water”, Sani said.
He also said the NECC has a role to play to save the country’s foreign exchange from being blown away through too many medical tourism from what we now having over $4billion – $4billion that have been going out of Nigeria as a result of medical tourism to places like Egypt, Dubai, Indonesia, India and China. Those who have so much goes to Germany, and the West.
“We’re so exploited now. If not for this pandemic we don’t believe in our medical professionals. We don’t also believe in our Public health care centres like this NECC. “We’ve a place like this but people will prefer to go to the one far away for the same of because they believe that that one can do the work excellent because is an Indian. That’s how our people are being exploited”, he stated.
He also narrated a story of a Nigerian man who falls ills and was taken to private hospital manned by Indian, in Karu in Abuja, by the family, and after exhausted all the resources, was referred to a clinic in India, where remain part of the money for the family was collected and was returned back home.
“After some days, he develope complications and was taken to federal medical hospital Abuja, where he’ll die”, he said.
He also said when you seat down and watch politicians talking about COVID-19, he wondered what could be going on in the brains of medical experts, “because before you hear the opinion or views of an experts, you’ll hear 1millions of politicians who don’t know anything about it. If you hear the politicians, bureaucrats, business tycoon talking about it, is as if you doctors don’t know anything, and I think that’s one of the problems.
“Experts health professional are pushed aside in this fight against COVID-19 pandemic”, he said, adding that to achieved success for experts who knows the job is becoming Impossible.
According to him the time for those who knows the job to step forward and take their rightful position to save the country from emiment disaster before the Nation is now.
“Unfortunately alot of people don’t even believe their is COVID-19 uptil now. They formed alot of congestures and concoted theories and at times used faith and miracles to dispersed what’s rights and good”, he said.
He said politicians like them cashed in on every opportunity to be make maximum benefit for themselves, their political party, their future politics and that of political platform, including public health to the detriment of masses, “which is he described as dangerous.
Recalled that Senator Shehu Sani had raised alarm over the overbearing salaries of National assembly members in the 8th National assembly when he was a member of the Senate and called names as radical one.
The Medical Director (MD) NECC Dr Mustapha Yaro emailer expresseed gratitude for Shehu Sani for attending the launching and his contribution for the book launching, while Sani expresseed delight over the commendation of the MD for transforming the centre, thanked ARD chairman, others.
Highlight of the event was an award of honor, NECC transformation and recognition given to the Shehu Sani, the medical director (MD) NECC, and 3 others, during the ceremony held at NECC conference hall in Kaduna. End
