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By Chinwendu Obienyi
Former Emir of Kano and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has urged presidential candidates of the various political parties to prioritise spending on education and healthcare to boost productivity and development in the sectors.
He spoke at the August event 2022 organised by the board and management of Moses Adekoyejo Majekodunmi Foundation (MAMF) in collaboration with St. Nicholas Hospital in Lagos, yesterday.
Delivering his opening remarks on the theme, Sanusi said Nigerian politicians, especially presidential candidates, must have a clear plan and utmost respect for the two sectors as they had failed abysmally.
“As a people and most especially as governments, we have lost our respect for the professions that should be respected. Teachers and doctors are not looking for money but the amount of money we invest in training our children in becoming doctors and teachers can never be earned in salaries in this country but people deserve a decent life and also respect.
“With the incoming elections, we need to ask these candidates what their plan is for the sectors because they have to make this issue top priority when addressing or making strategic infrastructural and development policies in the country which will help in decreasing the brain drain in the country.”
He argued that with high inflation in the country where the average doubles every hour, salaries of doctors and teachers were not increased to accommodate the inflation leading to lack of motivation to serve the nations.
“People want to serve but they also want to eat. They are humans who have basic responsibility, they want to educate their children. We have created an economy where everybody on a narrow salary is being impoverished.”
Delivering a keynote address on the ‘Nigerian Healthcare System: The Past, Present and the Future’, Professor and Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Birmingham, Adesegun Abudu, stated that after years of war and independence amongst others, the likes of United Kingdom, U.S and Cuba have a better life expectancy than Nigeria due to the fact the healthcare systems are given topmost priority.
Whilst noting that those countries spent more on healthcare, Abudu noted that Nigeria only spends about three per cent of its GDP on the health sector, stating that this trend needs to change with the incoming government.
He revealed that poor health financing and out-of-pocket contribution has led to health inequality in the sector while adding that there is a need for a more structured policy that will favour the education and the healthcare sector.
