On January 3, 2013, one Mrs. Safiya Sani, 17, was delivered of a set of conjoined twins at the Mararaba Medical Centre in Nasarawa State. Safiya, a seamstress, is married to Ahmed Sani, a "Madarasatul-Islamiya" teacher.
The conjoined twins, baby girls, according to the doctor that delivered them, were promptly referred to the National Hospital, Abuja, as the first hospital lacked both personnel and facilities to handle the case. Unfortunately, the authorities of the National Hospital announced on Monday, January 7, that the conjoined twins had died.
What circumstance led to the death of these conjoined twins? What attempt was made by the hospital to carry out an operation to separate the conjoined twins? Does the hospital have the requisite personnel? Does the hospital have the necessary equipment to carry out the operation? Was the delay caused by the usual Nigerian official bureaucracy or that the indigent father of the conjoined twins was unable to raise the necessary deposit, as was demanded by the hospital authorities before the operation could be carried out?
The pleas for help by the mother of the conjoined twins from her hospital bed for the government and public-spirited compatriots to rally round and save the lives of her babies fell on deaf ears. Rather, the first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, the first lady of Nasarawa State, Hajiya Al-Makura, in whose state the babies were delivered, and the wife of the FCT minister, Amina Bala Mohammed, were all jostling for the klieg lights to showcase the first babies of the year in their respective domains.
Even the spouses of the top parliamentarians led by Mrs. Helen David Mark ought to have seized the initiative. The minister of health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, by his actions or inactions has displayed outright nonchalance over the matter.
This is unfortunate. It is a confirmation that our government pays scant attention to human life. It is also a confirmation of the result of a recent research: that Nigeria is the worst place for a child to be born!
The death of these conjoined twins should not be swept under the carpet. The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) should investigate the cause to determine, among other things, whether there was culpable negligence. This is necessary because the National Hospital, Abuja, is fast acquiring the reputation of a "national morgue". This investigation will also afford the NMA the opportunity to ascertain the competences of the personnel in that hospital and the quality of equipment available.
It is time the federal government stopped paying lip service to the provision of health for all. While we advocate for the proper equipping of the National Hospital, Abuja, it is also very necessary that at least one federal hospital in each of the six geopolitical zones in the country should be properly equipped to cater for emergencies.
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To the undiscerning, this garbage could be misconstrued for awusa attitude of decency towards human life, or for how sacred they hold it. For letting co-joined twins die, the Minister of Health, First Lady Patience, Mrs. Mark, and every other lady share the collectively guilt of state mischief. They looked the other way as Ahmed Sanni- the mai chin duri- repeatedly mounted Safiya with tragic consequences. Someone must not forget that, second only to barbaric conduct, deadly maniacal rampage and mass-murder, procreation and rape rank very high as awusa favorite pastime. And by the way, where in hell was the whipping boy, Jonathan, the night the co-joined sacred calves died? How dare the President relax in the comfort of Aso Rock rather than keep an all night vigil at the “National Morgue’s” corridors. Worse still, he failed to consider sending the Army Brigade of Gaurds at the funeral to mount a parade in honor of the co-joined awusa holy calves. We have no one but ourselves us to blame. We tolerate all the shit, impose them on ourselves and handed them the prestigious status of Nigeria’s sacred cows. We go ahead to overindulge low-lifers and panic whenever they whine. Some of us even catch cold each time the soulless perverts sneeze. Here, some idiot blackmails us for “letting them die”, i.e. the co-joined sacred calves. We are warned not to sweep the death of Siamese awusas. Talking about sweeping stuff under the carpet, the murder of 50,000 Igbos by barbaric awusas in 1966 is yet to be addressed. $0 years have rolled by and not one awusa has been indicted after the murder of 50,000 defenseless people. Expectant mothers were murdered, disemboweled and the fetuses ripped out and dashed against concrete. They were Igbos. Odi and Zaki Biam were razed to the ground to soothe awusa interest. And here come some nitwit talking about mere Siamese that came off the loins of procreating awusas. On a daily basis, the Berom people are massacred made into human barbecue by awusas/Fulani jihadists. The co-joinese would still have died even if Jonathan personally flew them in his official jet to Yar’Adua’s hospital in Saudi Arabia. Assuming they survived Saudi surgery, polio and other diseases in the North would still await them somewhere down the road, to polish them off. They stood no chance in hell to survive, not one. The “I- me-and-myself” mentality, coupled with incurable, myopic unreasonableness, is exactly why awusas are social irritants that get into everybody’s skin. They only see themselves; other Nigerians do not count. The backstreet misleader newspaper feels no shame in promotion idiotic mentality of a clan of pinheads.