true that the Federal Government has said it has begun the process of laying out a plan to restrict government officials from travelling abroad for medical treatment, then i will say our better days are approaching.
Recently the Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, said that a policy is in the pipeline to enforce every government official to get medical attention in Nigeria if government was going to foot such bills. He, however, said only conditions that had been proven treatment could not be taken care of in Nigeria would such officials be allowed to travel abroad.
Traveling abroad for medical treatment by government officials have almost become a tradition among our so called leaders. It’s evidently a status symbol among our past and present leaders.
We are all witnesses to the numbers of trips our former head of states have made all in the name of medical treatment. Top ranking government officials frequent overseas for medical attention. This is similar to what is happening in our educational sector, whereby leaders play politics and pay less attention to the problems of striking lecturers and decaying educational infrastructures because their children are studying abroad.
This practice of going abroad for medical treatment by government officials have to stop. It’s a trench on the wealth of the nation. Corrupt government officials will use it as means to siphon or launder money overseas. Going abroad for treatment will divert government’s attention from equipping the Nigerian hospitals. It has a multiplier effects on the health system in Nigeria. The best thing will be to put a ban on this habit.
One must not lose sight of the appropriateness to upgrade Nigeria’s tertiary health institutions to world class standards.
The respect for human rights is also an issue that must be given priority. Government must also respect people's right especially when they are ready to foot their bill and when it is obvious that not all medical cases could be handled in the country.
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