Dr. Biodun Ogungbo
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I
was born, I think, at the Island Maternity Hospital, in Lagos. I also
had some training in delivering babies at the hospital during my
training at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos (Medilag). The
most vivid memory I have of Island Maternity Hospital is truly terrible.
I remember that the hospital had a big bowl filled with antiseptic
agent in which the needles used for suturing up some women after
delivery were kept. If you need to repair an ‘episiotomy’, you simply
dipped your hand in the bowl, select your needle and then go ahead and
suture up the patient.
It was definitely a good way of
transferring infections such as hepatitis to the women. Now, I don’t
know if this practice still exists or if the hospital has modernised
over the years. Perhaps the hospital has even deteriorated. Who knows? I
will return there in the near future for a reconnaissance and an update
of current practices in the labour room.
Anyway, to Medilag
I did do a reconnaissance of my alma
mater, Medilag, recently and I was dumbfounded at the decay and the
abject poverty that pervades this erstwhile citadel of learning. This
school is not fit for training monkeys, let alone the young minds it is
supposed to train and qualify as doctors.
The College of Medicine is a nightmare
and no longer fit for that purpose. It is a disgrace to the thousands of
alumni who have graduated from this school. It is a shame on us all!
When I was in Medilag, I roomed with a
dear friend, Dr. Bayo Windapo in No 416, Ali Akilu Hall. We each had a
bed at the opposite ends of the room.
Now, on my visit to the same room, I had
to negotiate an obstructing course of endless buckets used by the
students to fetch water. The room was now inhabited by eight female
students, four of whom are apparently squatters, as only two bunk beds
are in the room (for four people). The room is therefore close to the
occupancy rate in Kirikiri Maximum Prison.
Where is the solitude, the solace, the
cerebral relaxation that should follow each day of academic pursuit? How
can each student be the best they can be in an environment so
suffocating, indecent and bereft of any sense of comfort?
The school has deteriorated in more ways
than one. That the students have to carry buckets to fetch water is
demeaning and shameful. The quality of the study rooms, the lecture
theatres and the library has deteriorated significantly. The major
learning ground — the Lagos University Teaching Hospital — is another
story. Things were so bad there that the college lost accreditation for
training surgeons a while back.
Some of the old lecturers are tired and
should be retired. In fact, I went to visit one of the professors and
his office was exactly as it was over 25 years ago. The stuff in his
brain must also be exactly as jaded as his looks. There is no sense of
purpose and a lack of new ideas in the training of medical students.
The curriculum is worn-out and should be
replaced. Medilag has not contributed singularly and significantly to
the health of Nigeria. Yet, we have had brains trained in Medilag and
many are currently masters of their profession in many parts of the
world.
Comatose alumni league
I am ashamed to be an alumnus of Medilag
and I am not proud of the decay. I have neither supported Medilag nor
contributed meaningfully to the development of this college. But all is
not lost; and there is time to remedy the problems and bring back the
glory to our alma mater. The buck stops here now, as we cannot allow the
college to continue to wallow in self pity and disgrace.
A strong, unified and dedicated alumni
organisation is vital to the survival of the school in order to bring
back the glorious days. Trust and transparency of purpose are the major
stumbling blocks. Many are not sure that the money will hit the target
and that projects will not be hijacked. The lack of accountability and
the corruption that pervade all aspects of the Nigerian society is the
major impediment to the revival aspirations of many who want to help
Medilag.
However, we must not be deterred; and we
must do what we can to help. We need to wake up and shake off the
crippling lethargy of all the classes graduated from Medilag over the
past 50 years. We need new ideas, new thinking and progressive people
for Medilag. The students of today and the doctors of tomorrow need our
help to make them the best they can be.
That must be our true legacy.
by Dr. Biodun Ogungbo(ogungbo@btinternet.com)
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