system

Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, on Tuesday shared a personal encounter that highlighted what he described as the deep failures in Nigeria’s healthcare system, saying the country is not poor but poorly governed.

Obi, in a post on his official X (formerly Twitter) handle, recounted a conversation he had with a young Nigerian-American nurse during a domestic flight from Owerri to Lagos.

According to him, the encounter occurred on January 4, after he had attended events in Ughelli, Delta State, and Mgbidi, Imo State. While onboard an Air Peace flight, Obi said he sat beside a 24-year-old nursing school graduate, Chidera Ugwokeba, who was visiting Nigeria for the first time with her parents.

Obi said the young nurse expressed sadness and confusion over the state of basic public services in Nigeria, particularly healthcare. She narrated an incident involving her sister, who sustained a domestic injury and was rushed to what was described as the best government-owned hospital in the area.

Despite the urgency of the situation and visible bleeding, Obi said hospital staff allegedly refused to attend to the patient until payment was made. The family was reportedly shown other patients in critical conditions who were also left unattended due to inability to pay.

After payment was eventually made, the nurse further discovered that the hospital had only one blood-testing machine for all patients, which she said was not sterilised between uses. Obi added that when concerns were raised, hospital staff allegedly warned the family to stop asking questions if they wanted treatment to continue. Despite having paid, the family was still required to purchase all items needed for care.

Obi noted that the nurse said such practices contradicted her training and experience abroad, where treatment precedes payment. She also reportedly disclosed that while her family had considered raising funds through a GoFundMe campaign to support healthcare in Nigeria, relatives discouraged the idea over fears of mismanagement and corruption.

The former Anambra State governor said the conversation took a more emotional turn when the nurse referenced the recent death of boxer Gabriel Oluwasegun Olanrewaju, popularly known as “Success,” suggesting the absence of functional ambulances could explain why he was not rushed to a nearby hospital in time.

“She wondered whether Nigeria was simply a poor country,” Obi said, adding that the nurse nonetheless expressed willingness to offer her services free of charge and help raise funds to improve the system.

Responding to her concerns, Obi said he assured her that Nigeria has sufficient resources but lacks competent and compassionate leadership. He argued that misplaced priorities, rather than poverty, are responsible for the collapse of critical services.

To support his argument, Obi cited figures showing that a standard ambulance costs about ₦150 million. He said the ₦60 billion spent on refurbishing the National Conference Centre and rebuilding the Vice President’s residence could have provided about 400 ambulances nationwide. He also stated that the ₦300 billion reportedly spent on an additional presidential jet could have built over 4,000 primary healthcare centres across the country.

Obi concluded by calling for national unity across ethnic, religious, and political lines to demand leadership marked by competence, capacity, compassion, and transparency.

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