Listen to your doctors!!!!

I got my primary school education from the staff school in one of the South Western Federal Universities. And on several occasions, we were turned back at the university gate 'cause the students were rioting!  I remember the joy and excitement I felt then that I had to skip school. Sometimes when I had an outstanding homework, I would pray that the University students would have gone on another rampage and hence save me from my teacher's cane ( God never answered those prayers!) Anyways, I referred to those days, 'cause in present times, that's how a lot of doctors feel when there's a strike; whether National or State or Local. It's not that we do not love our jobs. Some of us do, in fact most of us jumped for joy when we got admitted to study Medicine. We were our parents' pride. But when you have to practise Medicine in Nigeria, trust me, you gradually lose all the excitement. The facilities are on the downward scale, the patients can't afford the basic investigations that will help you make a proper diagnosis let alone buy the drugs you've prescribed. The nurses are aiming their verbal lashes or stirs at you, the janitor doesn't care if you spent donkey years in school, all he knows is that you were born yesterday and so can't give him orders. And then you are mobbed by the relatives of the patient who just gave up the ghost! All because you bear that title Dr. I could go on and on. The worst part is that you are overworked and extremely exhausted, hence there is no time for any other thing. You'll be lucky to have time to rest sef! And the whole residency program? It's a shadow of itself. Fast falling into the dunghill that our educational sector has dived into. So why won't we breathe a sigh of relief at the slightest whiff of an industrial action? The populace will try to play the Hippocratic oath card and say we were trained to save lives! That's true. But wait till you marry a doctor and he can't afford to send your children to the school of your choice. Then you'll realise that doctors are Nigerians too. Not super humans. We also have responsibilities, and the title Dr doesn't pay our bills, it doesn't make our needs disappear; instead sometimes, it increases them. The other day, I branched at a stall in the market and alas, it was my patient's stall. After a few pleasantries and free consultation, I priced what I had to buy. She didn't reduce the price cause I was her doctor o! After all this is business. While I sympathise with the patients that might be affected by this strike, I'll like to request that again, we should engage our government! For once, let the Nigerian populace listen to us and understand our plight. Let them stop seeing doctors as Florence Nightingale. We all have families too. School fees, hospital bills, Nepa bills, DSTV bills, Vigilante bills, church or mosque pledges, family contributions etc to pay and every other responsibility you also bear. We also want our profession protected and it's dignity restored. Let the government listen to us. Let the people listen to us. We are the victims here!

---