The reasons for this particular protest has long been in the public domain. In the story is a woman, an allied health group, a medical institution, and the general public. Between these principal actors is chaos.
The accounts of different events in the story is dependent on which group you stand for. The medical institution is the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri. The woman in the story is Dr Angela Uwakwem, the Medical Director of the FMC, Owerri. The Allied health group is the Allied Health Workers Chapter in the FMC Owerri. The general public are concerned Nigerians directly affected by the chaos at the FMC.
Like I said, the chaos has been on for some time now and has precipitated to series of protests that have moved to the streets of the town.
How can professional degenerate so low as to getting physical? Yes, Physical!!! While the protest was starting off by mid-day today, a photographer of this blog was taking shots of the event. He was accosted by about 8 members of the Allied health workers chapter in Owerri and was almost manhandled but for his cooperation. He was forced to delete the photo or risk damage to his device.
How can a professional group degenerate so low as to impinge on the rights of a private citizen? I gather that the reason for this protest action, is to get the management of the hospital to do justice to their rights (right to get their allowance). And they think the rights of a private citizen, a freelance photojournalist, is not equal to theirs.
The FMC Owerri is at the moment a shadow of itself. The woman in the eye of the storm may or may not be guilty of the allegations. There are report that she is to be the agenda of an emergency meeting by the MDCAN, the body overseeing activities of medical consultants in the country Read More Here
The public suffers the most in this chaos. The Federal Government intended that a Federal hospital be established as the tertiary institution for each state. This medical institution continues to wallow in neglect as patients are forced to seek medical care from private hospitals.
For too long, the Federal Government have left the hospital to chart the course of their actions. But this is no longer feasible. I call on the in-coming Minister of Health in the new administration to give the well deserved attention that the FMC truly deserves. Any action short of this would worsen the mortality indices of the state and the country at large.
