Musa Faruk Garba
26 September 2008
opinion
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are significantly health related. One of the major challenges facing our democratically elected leaders is making healthcare accessible to the broadest number of the citizens possible.
In fact, stemming the threats of rising maternal and infant mortality rates are among the major areas of urgent concern for any responsible administration.
Statistics on these frightening challenges are so well known to bear a repetition. What cannot be ignored, however, is the extent to which all elected leaders are responding to these disturbing health issues. While Europe, America and Asia are working aggressively to improve life expectancy and other health-related challenges of their peoples, Africa appears to be lagging behind. Most of the diseases that mow down majority of African people are largely preventable once the people have access to basic medical care.
It is however, important to recognize the genuine efforts of some Governors in Nigeria to tackle the urgent challenges of making health care as widely available as possible. The Gombe State administration under the leadership of Governor Danjuma Goje presents a shining example of where improved health care has become one of the democracy dividends enjoyed by the people.
The Goje administration has proved that democracy does not begin and end at the polling booth. It has also demonstrated that oath-taking is not mere formality in which elected leaders abandon their promises once they settled into office. So far, available evidence has proved that the Goje administration is keeping faith with the people in its practical commitment to remarkably raise the standard of health care in Gombe State .
Even the blind can perceive the rapid expansion which the health care system is witnessing in Gombe State. For example, almost all the existing hospitals in the state have been expanded, renovated and re-equipped to make them meet the standard of modern healthcare and increasing demand for better medical care. The construction of two new General Hospitals at Deba and Nafada goes a long way to demonstrate the genuine commitment of the Goje administration to improved health care. A third additional hospital is also currently under construction at Talasse.
The health of mothers and their children is a significant component of any serious health care system. In line with this laudable objective, the Goje administration has introduced free antenatal and delivery services at all hospitals in Gombe State. Considering the fact that pervasive poverty severely limits access to good health care, the significance of free antenatal delivery services should not be lost on any objective observer that understands the extent of crisis facing access to medical care in Nigeria.
Access to safe and affordable drugs is another important area in which the Goje administration is giving adequate attention. It has reactivated and introduced more effective funding of the Drug Revolving Fund (DRF). To function effectively, hospitals need not only drugs but also equipment to render the needed services to the people. The Goje administration has procured brand new hospital ambulances and distributed them to all the eleven local government areas of Gombe State. The federal Medical Centre and the Specialist Hospital in Gombe also received one ambulance each. The fact that the Federal Medical Centre received an ambulance is itself a clear recognition by the Goje administration that the provision of adequate health care demands concerted efforts by all levels of government.
However, the quality of healthcare does not only depend on drugs and equipment but also on the quality of the personnel that run the system. The establishment of the Gombe State School of Nursing and Midwifery shows the determination of the Goje administration to accord priority to the training of medical and healthcare personnel.
Being elected into public office is a burden and leaders must justify public trust. So far, the Goje administration has proved that it is not in office for its own sake but to deliver service. Democracy thrives on the ability of leaders to provide service. It is impossible to speak of adequate social service without considering the role of effective healthcare in achieving such objective.
The military in December 1983 described our hospitals as mere consulting clinics to justify the termination of democratic rule. Today, however, the performance of civilian democratic leaders such as Alhaji Danjuma Goje has disproved the theory that Africans are not ripe for democracy. The impressive picture of progress in Gombe State means that democracy will always be the people's first choice over autocratic rule.
Governor Goje has demonstrated that civilian democrats are adequately capable to meet social expectations. Good health care is one of the areas in which the development of any state can be determined. He has demonstrated that, with leadership with vision, commitment and adequate knowledge of priorities, Gombe State can put itself on the map. A leadership that produces results such as the Goje administration makes the citizens ever proud. Once a leader proves himself and his people appreciate his performance, what his opponents say against him cannot change the reality of his impressive record. Effective leaders don't let themselves deflected on their course by malicious criticisms that deliberately bury objectivity underground. Democracy is as good as the quality of the leaders we elect and Gombe State, under Danjuma Goje, is a shining example of where democracy is working to raise the living standards of the people.
Garba writes from Anguwar Dosa, Kaduna.
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