By Edoamaowo Udeme
For Ben Bright Mkpuma, future may not be as bright as his middle name if rescue  doesn’t    arrive on time. The ebullient online journalist is down with kidney failure and requires N10 million for transplant. Now undergoing three times weekly dialysis, Ben is a shadow of himself as he calls for help in order to survive

From Ebonyi Stat, Ben, a 49-year-old father of four, said in his Jikwoi, a suburb of Abuja home, that he suddenly took ill late last year and was taken to First Aid Hospital in Mararaba, where he was referred to government hospital. But fearing that he will be neglected there, he decided to go to a private hospital    for proper care and treatment    was diagnosed of the illness.  “It is pretty difficult for me to maintain daily dialysis because of the cost”, he said, saying it costs approximately N30,000 per treatment and he needs to do that thrice every week. “24th December last year, I went into coma after the dialysis. It is God that brought me back to life. I have been punctured in my lower abdomen severally. My doctor has now suggested that I will be given a permanent line in my hand which, as at last year, cost N180,000. I don’t know how much it will cost this year”.

Ben’s case is a peculiar case in Nigeria where people, who can afford it, prefer private hospital treatment to government  hospital’s which is supposed to be highly subsidized. Having undergone seven dialysis so far, he says in order for him to live, he has to have a permanent line and keep undergoing dialysis until he undergoes a heart transplant. Luckily,there is a donor waiting, “Undergoing dialysis is a life and death situation, if the machine is not well handled, that means death”, he stated.

Sometimes government facilities are not accessible even to the rich. A similar case is said to have happened to a former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Akpan Isemin, who was undergoing dialysis at the University Of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH). Having undergone a series of dialysis while preparing to go abroad for operation, Isemin arrived UUTH for another round  but he was told the generator of the facility had broken down. One was quickly made available from his home but, before it could be brought, he had died.

Asked if he has gotten help since he took ill, Ben said National Headquarters of the NUJ had not responded in any way, not even through phone call. “They are aware of my predicament but I have the Secretary of Abuja NUJ Chapter Mrs Rafat Salami to thank for rallying round using a WhatsApp platform called “Journalist Roundtable” to raise well over N100, 000 for me.” He also thanked Paul Ella, the Abuja NUJ Chairman for his personal donation of N25,000    but begged them not to give up on him.

Ben is begging the Federal Ministry of Health to  step into his case as the little money he made from online journalism is long gone and he is living on people.

Ben is also calling on well-meaning Nigerians to help him live. “I need N10 million for the surgery, but before I undergo it, I need dialysis to survive,” he said.

The surgery will be carried out in Garki General Hospital by Indian doctors who will come in just for that purpose. This leads to another question: Aren’t there qualified Nigerian doctors who can do this?

To Ben, before this ordeal is over, he may spend over N20 million.