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Simeon Nwakaudu
Last weekend, I was shocked at the indiscretion of an FM station in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, when it invited a politician with a long history of hatred for the Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, to speak and defend the refusal or lack of interest by the Federal Government to intervene in Rivers State.
As a media professional, I considered it absurd for my colleague who anchored the interview session to bring in a politician who was a lackey of a minister from the state to defend the exclusion of Rivers State in support by the Federal Government in the fight against coronavirus.
Chief medical director (CMD) of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Prof. Henry Ugboma, who was the guest on the radio programme, clearly did not hide where he belonged and whose interest he was out to defend.
Many Rivers residents would not be befuddled by the views of Ugboma. They would also not be beguiled by his claims. He is doing the bidding of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in which he is a card-carrying member.
He played a key ignoble role during the 2019 elections. For what he did during the campaign, he was rewarded with his current office by his godfather at the centre.
But let truth be told, that he was appointed CMD of UPTH does erase the memory of what he did against the interest of millions of Rivers State indigenes during the elections. Nobody can clearly forget in a hurry that he and some other retrogressive forces were fingered in the protracted shameful attempts to steal the votes of Rivers electorate. He is still nursing the wound of the failure. The will of God and that of the people of the state prevailed. But, regrettably, he is yet to adjust to the reality that he can’t continue to cloak himself in mischief and hate on issues concerning Gov. Wike.
All through the 2019 general election, Ugboma campaigned vigorously for the election of the AAC/APC candidate and was quoted as saying that, over his dead body would Governor Wike be re-elected. So, it was not surprising that he would come to a radio programme to tar and defend what was obviously indefensible simply because he wanted to get at Governor Wike and Rivers State.
Without mincing word, the goal of the outing backfired. Ugboma got his fingers further burnt. How can his colleagues in the medical field be proud of him when he chose to openly denigrate and smear them? He chose to insult his professional colleagues who are managing infected people at the State Treatment Centre. This is unfortunate and depressing. Ugboma should realise that the treatment of coronavirus patients is not the same as taking sides against majority of Rivers State residents during elections.
To say the least, it is shocking and unprofessional that he would openly say on air that, if he had been involved, the two coronavirus patients in the state who have, unfortunately, lost their lives to the pandemic wouldn’t have died.
In Lagos, many persons have died and the CMD of LUTH did not go on air to blame the Lagos State governor. Some persons died in Edo State and the CMD UBTH did not go to any radio station to blame the state government. That is why many would continue to dismiss Ugboma’s media outing as unprofessional and utterly irresponsible.
With this development, many would now see the eminent sense in Wike stepping out few weeks to warn against the politicisation of COVID-19. He called for joining of forces to defeat the ravaging pandemic.
If Governor Wike was an APC governor, would Ugboma go to any radio station to defend his party or the Federal Government which has questions to answer regarding the handling of the pandemic? It is imperative to point out the infantility of the claims of the CMD of UPTH. He said he could talk to Gov. Wike because he is not his appointee, while the Rivers State Health Commissioner, a professor of medicine, cannot advise Gov. Wike. But the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the apex body managing coronavirus, thinks differently about Wike.
Director-general of the NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, lavishly hailed the outstanding leadership role of Governor Wike in the fight against coronavirus. He spoke during a meeting with officials of Rivers State government.
His words: “This is a working visit. I want to thank you for your firm, strong, committed and personally led response to COVID-19 in Rivers State. Rivers is one of the most important gateways into the country. One of the most important economies in the country. So, Rivers is important, not only to you but to the entire country. We are happy with the way you managed you first two cases. We thank you very much for your leadership and we need your leadership to continue in order for us to continue doing our work nationally.
“I want to really congratulate you on how the two cases in Rivers State have been managed. I understand the second case was discharged yesterday. Excellent work is being done in Rivers and really an example for the rest of the country.”
It is because some people love to play to the gallery and deliberately sidetrack the truth that Ugboma could lie on air. Several cases were referred to the UPTH by private hospitals and they declared their inability to act. From media reports, one of those cases came from Pamo Clinics and Hospitals. UPTH referred these patients to the Rivers State Ministry of Health.
While the CMD could expressly blame the state government for the death of two COVID-19 patients, he has maintained sealed lips on the donations and gifts handed to him by NIMASA and other agencies meant to aid the treatment of patients.
Ugboma’s allegation on the radio that the Rivers State government was using coronavirus as a weapon is not only reckless but also unbecoming of somebody in a crucial position as his. This allegation brought to the fore why UPTH in recent times has continued to progressively degenerate. Medical practitioners, especially those at the leadership echelon, are known for sobriety and taciturnity. But Ugboma is not in this category of men of honour.
Rather than become an armchair critic, Ugboma should use the funding available to him and the donations by Federal Agencies to set up a treatment centre. He is a man of courage who talks anyhow. Therefore, he should instruct the Minister of Health to close the gap for his federal institution. I am not even asking him to talk to the President.
Even the worst enemy of Rivers State acknowledges that Governor Wike has performed creditably in tackling coronavirus. The methods transcend medical. It involves creation of awareness, enforcing social distancing, closing the borders, setting up the legal system and reaching out to the people with palliatives.
Ugboma is only struggling to get money from the Rivers State government. He is bringing nothing to the table. He has not even written to the Minister of Health to intervene and certainly has not said anything to the President.
The appearance of Ugboma was nauseating. Alongside the station, they arranged APC callers to drive home their defence of the failure of the Federal Government to invest in the fight of coronavirus in Rivers State. If Ugboma had put on his thinking cap, he would have realised that Governor Wike was making a case for him and other federal institutions in the state. If the Federal Government decides to set up a treatment centre in the state, UPTH would certainly be involved.
Wike’s counsel should be on hand at this time. He had admonished that, “this is not a time to criticise. This is not a time to give reasons, but a time to support. This should be a collective effort to curtail the spread of this pandemic.”
