Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Lagos branch, has directed medical doctors in three government hospitals on Lagos Island to embark on an indefinite strike over the death of its member, Dr Diaso Vwaere.
The directive is contained in a statement jointly signed by the Chairman and Secretary of NMA in the state, Dr Benjamin Olowojebutu and Dr Ajibowo Ismail, on Wednesday in Lagos.
BRANDPOWER reports that Vwaere, a medical house officer with the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos, died on Aug. 1, owing to the injuries sustained when the LIFT she was in crashed from the 10th floor of the hospital building.
NMA directed the doctors at the General Hospital, Odan; Lagos Island Maternity Hospital and Massey Street Children’s Hospital to embark on the strike until investigations into the cause of the death were completed and justice served.
“The information we got was that she was trapped in the elevator for more than 40 minutes before she was rescued.
“We were also reliably informed that there was no blood available for resuscitation, and this has become a recurring issue as a result of the review made by the government on the previous policy on blood donation.
“To us, this was an avoidable death and it’s unfortunate that it was allowed to happen. We are pained and we are mourning.
“We are well aware that this same elevator has been a source of problem for many years during which several complaints had been made to all relevant agencies with no respite.
“It is very painful that at a time when the country is battling with unprecedented brain drain, a young colleague that would have been expected to attend to 6,000 Nigerians was allowed to die a needless death,” the association said.
It called for immediate, unbiased investigation into the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate incident.
“That all those found culpable in this matter, especially the General Manager of the Lagos State Infrastructure Management Agency, Ms Adenike Adekambi, are all brought to justice,” the association said.
NMA also directed all the doctors in other government hospitals in the state to scale down activities as a mark of respect for their dead colleague.
“Only emergency services should be rendered for the next five days,” it said.
The association appealed to government to urgently begin an overhaul of the house officers’ quarters on the Island and repair the infrastructure in all government hospitals that needed attention.
NMA also urged the government to revamp the blood transfusion system in the state for improved services.
“We appeal to our colleagues to remain calm, as NMA Lagos State leadership is on top of the situation and will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that justice is not just served but seen to have been served,” the association said.
It commiserated with the family of the late doctor, her colleagues on the Island, Medical Guild and the body of doctors in the state, while praying for the fortitude to bear the irreparable and unfortunate loss.
A Heartrending Tribute Trending on WhatsApp is reproduced below:
😡😡😡😢
And We Lost Dr. Vwaere To Nigeria’s Anyhowness.
When Dr. Vwaere was being inducted as a Nigerian doctor after her six-year sojourn at Babcock University last year, she had high hopes and expectations.
She had hopes for a flourishing medical career.
Expectations to use her newly learned medical skills to benefit the community and society at large.
Training a child at a Babcock medical college is quite expensive and does not come cheap.
3.5 million per annum for school fees alone during her time; it is now 6.5 million per annum, but her parents did it because they wanted to give the best to their daughter and then to avoid the anyhowness in the Nigerian university eco system.
Post-induction, Dr. Vwaere got a place to do her internship at General Hospital (Odan, Lagos Island), a facility owned by the Lagos State Government.
Before Dr. Vwaere joined the General Hospital as a student doctor, it was noticed by the resident doctors and staff of the hospital that the only elevator at the hospital had been in bad shape since 2018 and then there was no running water in the hospital.
But because of Nigeria’s anyhowness, one big madam, or Oga, siphoned or embezzled the money meant to replace the elevator while patchy work was done at the elevator to serve as a temporary respite, endangering people’s lives in the process and turning deaf ears to the genuine complaints by resident doctors at the hospital.
The elevator was so bad that it stopped at intervals, and you had to manually use your hand to close it in order to continue your journey.
The carelessness, wickedness, and anyhowness culture we have here have finally ended the journey and the dreams of Dr. Vwaere.
Just like the rest of us, Dr. Vwaere woke up today with bright hopes for the month of August.
She was upbeat for one reason: her housemanship at General Hospital (Odan, Lagos Island) was finally coming to an end.
She had less than two weeks to round up
She went to work excited that she has less than 2 weeks to complete her housemanship.
And this afternoon, a dispatch rider who brought the food she ordered online called her on the phone to let her know that he was around.
Since she was free, she elected to go and pick the food herself from the ground flour where the dispatch rider was, and on her way to meet the dispatch rider,
She entered the faulty elevator.
And then disaster struck.
The elevator fell from the 10th floor, where she was, to the ground with a loud thud that shook the foundation of the hospital.
Even the dispatch rider who was waiting at the entrance of the elevator thought that Armageddon was here when he heard the noise, so the man ran for his dear life.
It took one hour before Dr. Vwaere was rescued from the debris of what was once the elevator.
She was still alive, though badly injured, and was bleeding when she was brought out and rushed to the emergency section of the hospital.
And from multiple accounts of those who witnessed the surreal drama
Dr. Vwaere was crying that she did not want to die; even while stuck in the elevator for hours, she was crying for help.
“I don’t want to die; help me,” she cried nonstop.
She cried that she wanted to live and not die, but her desire to live was truncated by Nigeria’s anyhowness, which snuffed the life out of her.
Again, Nigeria’s anyhowness kicked in and deprived her of this chance to live.
She was taken to the emergency section of the hospital, but after another delay because there was no blood,
That was how Dr. Vwaere gave up the ghost.
The young lady died just like that.
Corruption kills, and this is another part of corruption we don’t discuss well enough.
We just lost Dr. Vwaere because of that hydra-headed monster and Nigeria’s culture of anyhowness.
I am visibly upset as I’m writing this.
This is not right.
We can’t continue like this.
We can’t continue living like this, like animals.
For how long will we continue to tolerate losing our best and brightest to this culture of mediocrity?
Nigeria keeps devouring its youth.
Nigeria failed Dr. Vwaere; may her innocent blood spilled for no reason haunt and punish those criminals who embezzled the money meant for a new elevator.
~ From my WhatsApp pro group. Dr Olutoyosi
