On 25 November 2012, my late pregnant sister, Ijeoma, was rushed by her husband to a hospital in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, but the doctors and nurses at the hospital callously and insensitively refused to attend to her without initial payment. They had demanded N20,000 (about €150 then) as precondition before they could attend to her. Her husband begged them to commence treatment and that he would go home to get money since the only money with him – N5,000 – had been spent on other procedures, including registration, as required by the hospital. He told them that the nature of the emergency made him even forget to put on his shoes. They vehemently refused the plea.

Everyone around noticed – especially women that had gone through child bearing – that death was knocking on my sister’s door. As her pain was increasing, people advised that she should be rushed to another hospital. Her husband drove her out in his car in search of a hospital. But unfortunately my sister did not make it. She painfully died in that pregnancy.

About 14 years after, the same system again has failed us. This time, it has consumed my young intelligent and promising nephew, Muna. His life was cruelly and mercilessly snuffed out by a corrupt failed system. It is so heartbreaking and disheartening because the closer we had thought we were in saving his life the more the failed structure had made it difficult and fastened his death. 

Munachimso shortly called Muna was diagnosed with leukemia and everything happened so fast. He went to hospitals in Imo, Rivers and finally in Abuja where he died.

When he was taken to the first hospital in Abuja, we had hope because they were able to stabilize him. After a short period, he was no longer depending on oxygen and started eating and playing with toys. All results carried out showed tremendous response and improvements, but the bills were rapidly increasing like thunder lightening. Within two weeks we had a deficit of more than 60 million naira and that was when the problem started. The hospital threatened to discharge Muna if we would not pay. We pleaded with them to be patient, continue his treatment and give us some time to pay the money. We went public seeking for financial help. Two days into this process Muna was forcefully discharged. He was taken to another hospital that had lesser equipment to save his life. There, his health situation again started to degenerate. 

With the help of the public, we the family members made arrangement to go back to this hospital where he was forcefully discharged. But it was not easy getting back. We made calls and chatted with some people in this regard for intervention so that Muna could be readmitted. We were still in this process and ready to agree on any term given by the management of the hospital so that he could be taken back when the worst news came. Muna was pronounced dead. It is devastating and my heart aches, for Muna’s death was preventable.

Who knows how many Nigerians have died like Muna? How many are currently on death row in various hospitals with death certificates already stamped, waiting to be issued? How long shall ordinary citizens continue to suffer and lament over government representatives’ low performances and uncaring attitude? With all Nigeria has got, why are the people in this state of despair? Who do we blame for Muna’s death? The hospital management that chased him away because of money or the government that failed to create a working healthcare system for all?

In all sincerity, while it is true that norms of medical ethics should at all times be observed, private hospitals are equally doing business too and must be sustained. They are not charity organizations. The problem is the government, its harsh policies and its lack of proper implementation. The Nigerian system in almost everything is only theoretically functional, but practically not existent because the system is corruptly structured. Nothing owned or operated by the government runs justly and smoothly, from schools to hospitals and courts etc. Muna’s death was avoidable but the system made sure that he did not survive. We are so deeply pained and so sad that we lost him. 

Hardly one finds government officials’ children in public schools. So, why should one be proud of a country where the minister of education cannot proudly send his/her own children to a public school preferring private schools or sending them abroad, or the minister of health cannot go to a public hospital for treatment when sick because of its poor standard? Why the deceit?

Why this high level of hypocrisy and compromise? Why do Nigerians condone such arrant nonsense? These are some of the reasons lecturers could go on strike for months and government officials care less to resolve the issue and why Nigerian government hospitals are substandard. Why should they care when their children are in well-equipped expensive schools/hospitals abroad? This is shameful and despicable. And we will all continue to lament until it becomes a law that no minister of education is allowed to send his/her children to a private school in Nigeria or to study abroad, and likewise no minister of health and his/her children are allowed to go abroad for medical treatment except in a few specified cases – including the children of every Nigerian president, lawmaker, and governor. This will revolutionize our schools and health sector to acceptable standards. Until then, Nigeria failed Muna and people like him. 

Yes, the 11-year-old boy was just a casualty of a failed system – a victim of the effect of corruption, nepotism, mismanagement and incompetence. Who will be the next victim? Does anyone know the nature, when and where? 

Good night Muna, and may your innocent soul rest in peace.

♦ Uzoma Ahamefule, a refined African traditionalist and a patriotic citizen writes from Vienna, Austria. WhatsApp: +436607369050; Email Contact Uzoma >>>>

Could President Donald Trump become the first living person on U.S. currency?

South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson is certainly trying to make that happen. He announced this week that he is working on legislation that would direct the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing to design a $250 bill featuring President Trump.

“Most valuable bill for most valuable President!” Wilson wrote on X.

Wilson said he wants to honor the president for his financial policies.

Wilson cited “Bidenflation” as a reason for making this move while claiming that the economy now forces Americans to carry more cash.

For those unfamiliar, “Bidenflation” is a term coined by critics of former President Joe Biden to describe the rise in inflation during his administration.

In the past four years, inflation peaked at 9.1 percent, which is reportedly the highest rate since the early 1980s.

If the legislation passes, Donald Trump will have his face on the highest-denomination legal tender in U.S. currency.

The Constitution is clear. Under the 22nd Amendment, no one may be elected president more than twice, which should rule out Trump.

However, the Republican-controlled Congress has already shown a wave of support for the president, including a proposal to allow him to seek a third term in office.

“Am I allowed to run again?” Donald Trump said last month at a meeting with House Republicans in South Florida.

According to a YouGov poll, a slim majority of Americans believe President Donald Trump will try to stay in office past 2029.

According to the Miami Herald, 52% of respondents said Trump will definitely or probably attempt to serve a third term.

34% said he definitely or probably would not, and 15% said they weren’t sure.

The Trump administration is directing all federal agencies to “promptly” begin preparations for large-scale layoffs and restructuring, and submit plans for doing do so by March 13, according to a new memo obtained by ABC News.

The memo, from White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, and Charles Ezell, the head of the Office of Personnel Management, was issued Wednesday morning and includes instructions for agencies to follow as they work to downsize their workforces and, in some cases, physical footprints.

The move could clear the way for the administration to begin dismantling or shrinking agencies like the Department of Education and will likely prompt a new flurry of lawsuits as the process takes shape.

“President Trump required that ‘Agency Heads shall promptly undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force (RIFs), consistent with applicable law.’ President Trump also directed that, no later than March 13, 2025, agencies develop Agency Reorganization Plans,” the memo stated.