By Fathia Oluwaseun Bello

The political system of Nigeria has never been settled. In such situation, the questions are what exactly are we practicing in Nigeria? Is it a democracy or it has been changed to another system?

The politicians of Nigeria are shameless. They come out to the citizens to campaign and promise what they don’t mean or intend to do and preach what they don’t practice.

For instance, the current president promised and even vowed that he will stop Nigerian government workers from going abroad for foreign medical treatment if elected as President, yet he was the first amongst the government civil servants to jet out of the country to Britain for medical treatment few weeks after been elected as President.

Considering a situation whereby half of Nigerian politicians and their family members would rather school abroad than school in their own country, making a lie to their election campaign promises to improve the educational or “make it the best in the world”.

Many of them still, shamelessly and without conscience or feeling for the poor and suffering masses, go out of the country for medical checkup and treatments.

Some even prefer to even build factories or establish their companies outside Nigeria, while they come out to the citizens, falsely campaigning with made-up manifestos about building amenities and good hospitals that they themselves don’t patronize.

   So let’s come down to their levels. When you don’t even go to the hospitals, schools and other amenities, how will it be a priority to you?

A politician can bring professors or physicians from abroad, so why go there? If they were honest and loyal to their country they wouldn’t even contemplate avoiding the hospitals in the country and going abroad at the expense of the people, utilizing public funds to travel abroad for medical checkup and treatment.

There are negative consequences for such unbecoming attitude of Nigeria’s reckless politicians:

a. For one it shows insincerity and lack of faith in Nigeria’s institutions, systems and facilities

b. It demonstrates and proves their lack of patriotism.

c. They show that they are not true leaders, as true leaders are patriotic, loyal and faithful to their country, citizens, institutions and systems.

d. They negatively influence and create bad leaders, amongst other politicians and potential leaders, who won’t appreciate the negative effect of patronizing foreign medical establishments, rather than those in the country

e. They bring further hardship on the citizenry as the local hospitals are ignored without receiving necessary financial support for their improvement or rehabilitation

f. They divert public funds that could be used to build or expand existing medical facilities for use in foreign medical checkups and treatment.

g. They cause the ordinary citizen to lose interest and faith in their country’s institutions and medical facilities

I. They create negative impact on the local economy in a country that is still largely dependent on foreign imports of food, goods and services, as scarce foreign currency is used to for these imports.

h. It brings pressure on the local currency which is devalued steadily from added expending and high exchange of local currency with foreign currency used  to pay for medical tourism

I. They create further poverty amongst the citizenry as financial resources meant to provide basic survival and welfare facilities for the poor are unduly diverted for payment of expensive medical checkups and treatments.

j. The politicians’ shameless conduct unduly deprive local physicians, nurses, and other hospital workers patronage and remuneration or salaries that are paid to their foreign counterparts that have no stake or interest in Nigeria.

   In this coming election, some politicians are claiming that the presidential seat is for them. For a candidate who is running for a presidential seat to claim such; does it mean that Nigeria’s presidential seat is  claimed as entitlement by one after the other?

   As a Nigeria citizen, in as much as these corrupt politicians are still going abroad for medical checkup and treatment, and disgracing their country, then they are still shameless and laws and measures must be enacted to check their disloyal and shameful practice.

Bills should be initiated by patriotic legislators at state and federal levels penalizing civil servants or politicians that engage in foreign medical checkups or treatment.

Violators of these patriotic and pro-country laws could be heavily fined, removed from office or political position or barred from holding public office.

Equally, civil society organisations could mount pressure on government officials to proscribe foreign medical tourism by civil servants and politicians, and bring lawsuits to compel a blanket ban of foreign medical tourism and prosecute violators of such positive laws.

Bello is from Dept of Mass Comm, Faculty of Information Communication Technology, Kwara State University