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By Mohammed Ahmed Yabagi.
It is high time the hypocritical stands of those who are forcing “Outreach” down our throats are addressed so they are made to understand that the needy and vulnerable that they toy with are the ones that vote during elections. They are the ones being represented by the politicians in whatever position they occupy, and so, deserve the best of care, just like the politicians. They can play politics all they want, even with their disjointed coinages, but the right thing must be done, including encouraging people’s participation in elections – be it standing for and electing representatives at the polls.
As a journalist, I know. I have listened to politicians such as Hon Buba and their representatives, while inspecting implementation of “OUTREACH” programmes, describing it as one they decided to embark on due to the concern they have for the heathcare needs of their people. But enough of the attempted PR. It is high time we looked beyond image laundry and skewed information being passed to us. We are no longer as gullible as they think we are. The people doing it are only doing their jobs to put food on their tables.
Wouldn’t it be nice if politicians and their handlers shift back and do some soul searching? It would be interesting if there comes a time when those saddled with the responsibility to critically assessing the information they are creating tone down on the tendency of taking all of us for granted and take the people as ‘first priority.’ What you don’t have, you can’t give. We have played too much politics for far too long; our selfish interest should not matter sometime.
I was recently pinned (tagged) to a post by the media handlers of Hon Umar Buba Jibril Campaign Organization; the post was of a .jpg message detailing an up-and-coming “Medical Outreach Programme.” Outreaches such as this one are good, but the spins, frenzy and the media bug ( or NOISE I should say) that they sometimes come with, bore me to high heavens. They are as deceptive as they are so lame…most of the time.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Programmes like this one are good. For instance, I would want my parents and other relatives as well as the general public to have access to the best medicare there is. If outreaches can serve as reprieve, then so be it. To be frank, outreaches serve only as mechanisms for ‘reprieve.’ In a country where even ordinary diagnosis is a huge issue and capital intensive, kudos to facilitators of outreaches.
Having said that, outreaches are not enough. It is an insult on the sensibility of our citizens for representatives in government to base their healthcare provisions on such programmes. What if there was no organization with the intention of such a humanitarian venture? Life is life; that of our elected representatives is not different from that of the masses.
Buba has carried out several ‘medical outreaches,’ but I am yet to see any one of them that has successfully discovered any life – threatening or serious disease and cured them. It does not mean our people don’t have diseases requiring serious attention. I saw with my eyes many aged people in the last outreach at the Children Amusement Park in Lokoja at the end of which I did not see any of the patients being given a comprehensive care that surgically addressed their ailments.
Let’s get it clear everyone; some of those doing the outreach are new companies looking for new markets to test – run their new products. The politicians, again, in their desperate attempt to make a point of “touching lives,” embrace them and turn their citizens into ‘guinea pigs.’ Poor and vulnerable members of the public, in their desperate quest to find solutions to their problems, become testing grounds.
Having said that, those media ‘agberos’ using outreaches to carry out amateur propaganda should carry out intra-communication with their alter ego. Unlike in the past, a lot of people have become wiser as they know that white is different from black. What they make out reaches to seem is that their principal contracted medical Doctors, purchased medicinal facilities and other logistical needs for the medical personnel to carry out the ‘outreach.’ The true of such programmes is the ‘facilitator’ may not even know whether the body carrying it out existed before being contacted for the programme. What happens is the actual people who conceptualized it are the ones that approach such individuals (mostly political office holders) and appeal that they support them with logistics such as information dissemination to encourage their target communities where the programme is being executed to patronize them. In doing that, most politicians end up hijacking it, making it seem like they are sponsoring it when in actual fact, only minimal support to reach wide range of people was what was asked of them. Since most of those in charge of the programmes are faith – based bodies, they hardly go about boasting of and claiming ownership.
People who politicise issues of health with sinister grin are the worst of humans bestriding the earth surface. These set of people prefer to get their medical attention overseas for the minutest of ailments, but prefer that the poor be attended to by people wanting to sell their products, ideologies or religious beliefs using the people’s desperation as a launchpad. Woe unto those who feed on the vulnerability of the needy in the society!
When we politicise issues of health, we should worry about the consequences. Many politicians are more interested in grabbing and grabbing. They grab positions using whatever means possible. They do same with the wealth of the masses. In fact, they learn nothing about humanity. If not the commitment towards grabbing and grabbing all that is available, how can backers of Rt. Hon Umar Buba expect us to join them in their oragsm because of a medical outreach?
Of the billions and billions he has received in salaries and constituency allowances for over ten years as member of the National Assembly after serving as Speaker of Kogi State legislative arm, how many hospitals has he built for his constituency? Don’t be angry o, but I asked before and no one seem ready to give me an answer, but how many masses – impacting laws has he sponsored and nurtured till it became law? I ask this question because that is his primary duty as a lawmaker.
‘As 2019 draws near, everything has become politics and politics has become everything. But whatever happens, leaders and followers alike have a duty not to abdicate their responsibility; they should not to sacrifice the real issues that matter to the people on the altar of their political ambitions or group interests. 2019 will come and go, but the constitiency will remain.’
As it is, I am not sure how many Lokoja/Kogi (Kotonkarfe) constituent is ready to wallow in outreaches and handouts while the person ‘facilitating’ them feeds fat on their commonwealth. There is a level to which people can tolerate seeming situation of greed and insatiable appetite for power. If after about two decades in public office it is still not enough for you, then I don’t know how many ‘outreaches’ it would take for us to get wiser…
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