Mohammed Haruna
6 January 2009
column
December 17, 2008 may yet go down as an important milestone in the history of academic medicine in this country; it was the day Professor Idris Mohammed's explosive book about the interplay of medical science - both local and global - and money and politics was "launched," to use a local parlance.
The venue was the Shehu Yar'adua Centre, Abuja, the gathering, a Who's Who from the medical circle, from the political and traditional leadership of the country, and from his native Gombe State.
The most important person of the day was, of course, former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida who chaired the occasion. Other VIPs included Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Muhammad Danjuma Goje, and the Emirs of Gombe, Nasarawa and Kazaure. The most prominent absence was that the chief launcher, Alhaji Ismaila Isa, Chairman of Bulet Ltd. and a close friend of the author. His "unavoidable" absence was, however, more than made up by his donation of N5,000,000 to the author as chief launcher.
Professor Mohammed, for those not familiar with the somewhat arcane world of medical science, has been a prominent figure in the contemporary history of immunology in this country. His book, which as the reviewer, Dr. Olaokun Soyinka, pointed out, is part autobiography and part contemporary history, is a highly readable documentation of his role in the country's fight against immunisable diseases like meningitis, measles, cholera and, of course, polio which has provoked so much controversy in recent times both locally and abroad.
This piece is by no means a review of the book. That role was performed most admirably by Dr. Soyinka, himself a medical doctor and - no price for guessing - a chip of the old block. His six-page review of the 395 page book was, to paraphrase a vintage New Nigerian editorial about communiqués, like a bikini; the bits of the book he revealed were alluring, but he left the important details hidden for the reader to explore.
Among the bits Soyinka revealed were the central role Mohammed played in checking the biggest outbreak of meningitis in Africa in 1978 and how the professor fought and lost the battle to stop the continued freefall of the nation's hitherto successful immunization programme because of corruption and the ill-advised concentration by the Federal authorities of the resources and infrastructure of the programme on polio, even though it was the least life threatening of all the immunisable diseases. This was when he took over the part-time chairmanship of the National Programme of Immunization (NPI).
Mohammed was, in Soyinka's worlds, "in the thick of the biggest outbreak of cerebrospinal meningitis in Africa and was thus on the spot when Pfizer turned up in Nigeria to conduct the controversial Trovan Trial. He was chair of the NPI board at a time when its previously commendable performance had plummeted and he uncovered all manner of graft. At UMTH (University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital) he was one of the pioneer researchers into HIV".
The book, Soyinka said, was, of course, not without its flaws. Principal among these, he said, was that on those occasions the professor felt strongly about an issue he overstated his case. Another was that the professor avoided criticizing the leaders who exemplified the mismanagement of resources he decried because of friendship and loyalty. Although the friendship and loyalty that was bound to develop as a result of the professor's close contact with leaders was not to be decried, Soyinka said, he found the professor's lack of assessment of the performance of those leaders "incongruous".
By publishing the story of his experience in the world medicine and politics, Soyinka said, Mohammed has done his own bit. What was left was for others to do their own bit for the restoration of the old glory of the theory and practice of medicine in the country.
Prominent among these others who should do their own bit, said Soyinka, are the authorities at the crime busting Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). "I commend this book to the EFCC for the startling revelations it contains", he said. "I also recommend it to anyone who wishes to enjoy some illustrating insights into our national condition; to anyone interested in healthcare... to anyone who is interested in moving this country forward or even to anyone who wants to be entertained by a lucid, articulate and compassionate book."
Apart from Soyinka's well-ctafted review of the book, three other things struck me about its launching. First was the little over one and a half hours delay in starting the programme of the occasion. This was because of the late arrival of General Babangida as chairman.
He seized the occasion of his brief remarks as the chair to apologize profusely for his late arrival. "I am no longer a young man," he said jokingly, to a loud and hilarious laughter from the audience. He had left his Minna residence early enough that morning to see his doctor in Abuja for his regular check-up and to still arrive on time for the occasion, he said, but the doctor thought differently; he thought it was better for the general to be late than to risk ill-health from a rushed medical check-up.
Not a few members in the audience may, like me, have wondered if the general was, by his joke about his age, not reiterating his past disavowal of speculations about his political come-back. Unfortunately for the man, few people are likely to believe him as long he is hale and healthy, thanks to his image as the Maradona of Nigeria's politics.
The second thing that struck me about the book launch was the challenge by the publisher, Mr. Bankole Olayebi, to Babangida to publish his long awaited memoir. Olayebi threw the challenge in the course of his remarks as chairman of BOOKCRAFT, the Ibadan based book publishers whose impressive titles include books by Wole Soyinka, the Nobel Literature laureate, and by well-known literary figures like Kole Omotosho and Niyi Osundare and the political polemicist, Dr. Patrick Wilmot.
It remains to be seen whether the general will pick up Olayebi's gauntlet.
The third thing about the book launch which struck me was the sad fact that more than four years after the controversy over polio vaccination exploded in the country, the jury is still out on who or what is to blame for its widespread rejection in the North because of suspicions that the imported polio vaccines had been laced with stuff that could induce infertility among the population of the predominantly Muslim North and even give its people the much dreaded AIDS.
The reader may recall that the Emir of Kazaure, His Highness, Alhaji Najib H. Adamu, who was guest speaker at the book launch, spearheaded opposition to the vaccination because of those suspicions. On this occasion, the emir, who pleaded to be allowed more than the five minutes allotted to him but took about half an hour, said he regarded the publication of the book as vindication of his position.
One of the book launchers, who happened to be a medical doctor, demurred- with due respect to the emir. Suspicious about the polio vaccines, he said, were never based on any scientific evidence. In any case the rejection of the vaccines had only subjected the North to ridicule, at least in medical circles, he said.
The big question is would Professor Mohammed's intervention in the controversy over the immunization programme through the publication of his book end the controversy especially in respect of polio?
Soyinka, the book reviewer, apparently thinks it might. Perhaps so. But I have my doubts given the fact alone that the authorities are yet to heed the professor's warning against paying too much attention to polio to the neglect of more life-threatening immunizable diseases like meningitis, measles, cholera, and tetanus.
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