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Monday, January 20, 2020 / 09:54 AM /
Editorial, Nigeria Tribune, January 16, 2020 / Header Image Credit: Liputan Islam
On its website, the US Embassy, in a piece of
information meant for Americans intending to visit Nigeria, describes the
country in very unflattering terms. It harps on two major albatrosses, namely
crude infrastructure and poor security. Anyone familiar with the Nigerian
terrain knows full well that its performance in these two areas is horrendously
low. Thankfully, the embassy says so quite unapologetically.
For instance, on health, the embassy confirms that Nigeria has well-trained
health professionals but lacks good health facilities. It particularly notes
that many medicines are unavailable, including medications for diabetes and
hypertension. It says that medicine should be purchased with utmost caution
because counterfeit pharmaceuticals are a common problem and distinguishing
them from genuine medications may prove difficult. The expose' also says that
Nigerian hospitals often expect immediate cash payments for the health services
rendered. It thumbs down the emergency health services in the country, saying
that they are practically non-existent, and circumscribed by unreliable and
unsafe blood supply for transfusion. It then counsels intending visitors to
Nigeria to consider Europe, South Africa or the United States itself for
treatments that require such services. It notes, quite sadly, that "ambulance
services are not present throughout the country or are unreliable in most
areas."
The embassy's observations and comments on water supply in Nigeria are
instructive. As it notes, "no areas (in Nigeria) have safe tap water." This is
specifically unnerving since pipes, most of them rusted, typically bear water
for public consumption from moribund reservoirs throughout the country. By the
World Health Organisation (WHO) standards, the approved lifespan of water pipes
is five years. Sadly, these pipes have hardly ever been replaced since they were
laid decades ago, so it is proper to consider pipe-borne water wherever it
exists in the country as unsafe. It is clear that even ice blocks brewed from
such unsafe sources are not to be trusted for human consumption. In the areas
of roads and safe traffic, the embassy is right on the money in its submission
that "roads are generally in poor condition, causing damage to vehicles and
contributing to hazardous traffic conditions."
It also berates the public transport system, describing it as unsafe throughout
the country. According to it, "public transportation vehicles such as buses and
motorbikes are unsafe due to poor maintenance, high speed and overcrowding." Sadly, it is not certain that governments across the country have ever
considered the import of this damning description on the US website,
otherwise they would have taken concrete steps to make the country a
truly modern society. The import of the description is that governance in the
country has been held in abeyance over the years. As a matter of fact, this
expose throws cold water on the expectations of tourists and other potential
investors in the country. It is simply delusional for the government to claim
to be in search of foreign direct investment from anywhere in the face of
primitive infrastructure, particularly when there is no sign that efforts to
change this narrative are in place.
Obviously, the US embassy's description of Nigeria should be seen as a call to
action by the country's leadership. They should pull out of the morass of self-delusion:
things are not working in the country.
On their part, Nigerians must take the task of removing the country's
depraved and utterly corrupt politicians from office through the ballot box
much more seriously. No truly serious country can be described in the manner
that the US embassy has done with so much elan.
Credit:
The
post US
embassy's description of Nigeria first appeared in Nigerian
Tribune on January 16, 2020
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