Away from the hate speech and anti-social media bills renting the media space, one pertinent issue which has always remained with us is the inability to save lives especially when it is of utmost priority. Moradeun Balogun, a promising young graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife was recently robbed and stabbed on her way from work. She was rushed to the hospital in Gbagada but was refused medical attention ( not even first aid treatment) over her inability to provide a police report.
Another young lady, Oranye Ruth was hit by a car at her bus stop where she was waiting to cross the road along the Lekki Free Trade Zone on the 7th of September 2019. Although she sustained major head injuries, she was still alive and was carried by onlookers to a nearby private hospital whose officials turned her away demanding a police report. By the time they arrived at the government hospital which was a distance away in Epe, Ruth had given up the ghost. She was just 27.
These are two of the many cases of promising Nigerians who have died prematurely, due to a society that seems to care less for the lives of her people. In a recent study, it was reported that 12 out of every 1000 Nigerians lose their lives in related circumstances of carelessness, poor medical infrastructure, non-compliance to safety precautions and inadequate information.
As Africans, communalism plays important role in shaping our daily conduct. But gradually we are losing grip of the way things used to be before now. Greed and selfishness has become so rampart and replacing good values of caring and support especially when someone’s life is in danger. Even accident scenes are now hotspots for taking pictures with mobile phones so we can share on social media. We need to go back to the times when raising a child was a collective responsibility, when we would rather be in the company of humans than our phones.
How do we draw the link between police reports and saving the life of an accident victims at the verge of dying? Why should a police report be needed before an accident victim would seek care? Is it ethically right to allow a man die for mere lack of a police report? Should hospitals not accept and treat every patient in need? Treat, save a life first and ask questions later? Even a criminal’s life is worth saving.
Although in 2015, the former inspector General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, gave directives to hospitals and other health institutions to treat accident and gunshot victims even before contacting the police, how well has this lived since then. It rather takes a medical personnel who wants to take all the risk to go ahead and save a life. Again, in 2017, Nigeria took a bold step to introduce the national gunshot Act which was set to turn things around. The Act stipulates compulsory treatment and care of gunshot victims, regardless of money and police report. Unfortunately, it’s two years after and many hospitals, particularly private clinics still reject such victims. In fact, the police report prerequisite seems to have extended to victims of road traffic accidents.
While we are not oblivious of the fact that most hospitals and medical experts have been harassed and bullied or get unannounced police visits for ‘saving’ a victim, we all need to draw the line and come to a consensus that protects all.
We look forward to a period in this country where human life is valued and respected. We cannot continue to treat one another like animals that is easily taken into the slaughter house. Our regard for life should be taken more seriously, that way, we are one step forward. The earlier we value human life, the better for our society, our sanity and growth.
