Concerned Nigerian citizen and self-acclaimed advocate for good governance, Faleye Oluwatosin Simon has urged Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, to look into the state’s healthcare system that is currently in crisis.
Having his say via an open letter to the Governor, he revealed that his urgent plea is simply a call to action fuelled by his patriotic desire to see Oyo State enjoy the development it truly deserves, and should not be wrongly interpreted as an attack on the governor or a criticism borne out of political bias or grievance.
According to him, state-owned hospitals and clinics are nothing to write home about across Oyo, and Ibadan, the capital city, is presently lacking basic medical amenities that will save lives when needed. Faleye said that the majority of the towns and villages across the state currently struggling with under-equipped and understaffed hospitals should not be the case, as it jeopardises the health of the people.
He wrote that it is now a regular occurrence for pregnant women in Oyo State to be left without adequate care, and if kids are not dying in the state from preventable sicknesses, patients are being chased away due to the unavailability of medicines, clinical tools and medical personnel. Faleye believes that while the healthcare system of such a prestigious state continues to deteriorate, the leader who was voted in to solve these problems cannot remain quiet.
He maintained that as someone who is referred to as the people’s governor, now is the time for Seyi Makinde to prove that it is not just a ceremonial title, but a reflection of who he actually is as a leader. According to Faleye, under the current administration, primary healthcare centres lack enough employees, the maternal death rate is unreasonably high, and quack doctors are allowed to freely experiment with people’s lives. He added that it is simply unacceptable for it to be common knowledge that the state’s healthcare system has not improved under Makinde’s leadership.
Speaking on the well-publicised promises of reforms that have failed to yield any positive result for the health sector, he wrote that the current crisis is definitely a matter of life and death, and good healthcare should be a basic right for every Oyo State resident, not a luxury to hope for. The concerned citizen added that the silence from the state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, is deafening, because it only proves that his office has completely neglected its duty when the people of Oyo need him the most.
Faleye concluded by saying it is the responsibility of any government to serve the people to the best of its ability, and if Governor Seyi Makinde really cares about the legacy he’ll be leaving behind when he eventually leaves office, now is the time to take vital steps that will guarantee he’ll be remembered as the leader who prioritized the health of his people over surface politics and fruitless publicity.
His words, “As we look toward future elections, I urge you to reflect on the legacy you will leave behind. Will you be remembered as the leader who built stadiums while hospitals decayed? Or as the governor who took bold action when it mattered most?
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Governor Makinde, I humbly ask you to prioritize the health of the people over politics and publicity. Restore our healthcare system. Equip our hospitals. Hire more qualified medical personnel. Hold your health ministry accountable.
Oyo State deserves better. We, the people, deserve better.”
