By DAMILARE ADELEYE
The Lagos State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has accused the state government of neglecting the safety and well-being of health workers in the state.
This came on the heel of government’s proactive steps over the passing away of talented Nigerian rapper and singer, Ilerioluwa Aloba, popularly known as MohBad, whose demise have gained national attention while it took with lip service the death of Dr Diaso who died in an elevator.
While commiserating with family and friends of the late singer, Dr. Benjamin Oluwatosin Olowojebutu, Lagos State Chairman of NMA, queried Lagos State government for not taking any decisive action since the death of Dr. Vwaere Diaso.
It was recalled that the late Dr Diaso died in an elevator accident at General Hospital, Odan, Lagos State, where she was serving as House Medical Officer.
Olowojebutu said rather for the government to have instituted a panel to take holistic audit of the entire processes that led to her death, government agencies have however been the “clog in discovering and ascertaining what actually transpired – which would have helped prevent a reoccurrence.”
The medical association added that its panel gave some recommendations, one of which is a coroner inquest to unravel the circumstances of death and findings of the autopsy (if any) conducted on the deceased’s body, but a coroner inquest request letter sent to the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice received no response or acknowledgement.
The statement partly read: “However, there is a conspicuously glaring and shocking difference in the government’s attention, approach, and style of handling the MohBad’s incident and cases involving the losses of lives of doctors in Lagos State and, by extension, Nigeria.
“Then, it becomes imperative to ask, “Do doctors’ lives matter, too?”
“A case in point was the soul-wrenching event that occurred at General Hospital, Odan, Lagos State, on Tuesday, August 1st, 2023. While everyone was relishing and celebrating the dawn of a new month, the NMA Lagos State Chapter and the family of Dr. Vwaere Diaso were thrown into deep-seated mourning.
“While on duty, Dr. Vwaere Diaso, a medical doctor and house officer, became a victim of an elevator accident in which she was trapped in a lift and eventually lost her life in the process.
“How does one explain the tragic loss of a diligent medical doctor who was hit by a crossfire of untimely death in her workplace? No thanks to systemic failure, malfunctioning laws, and ill-equipped workplace aptly enabled by the government.
“Pathetically, her death was avoidable, unnecessary, and condemnable. Needless to mention the overwhelming effect and colossal pain of her demise to her parents, relatives, colleagues, and acquaintances.
“I can imagine her saying to her loved ones, “I’m off to work; I will soon be back.” But she never returned to be received by their loving arms. Instead, her unsafe workplace became the voyage that ferried her to the forever land. When did the workplace become a death trap? Why should a sudden death be the reward for answering the clarion call of duty, diligence, and care for society?
“The vacuum she left, the bundle of aspirations, load of expectations, unexpressed potentials, and indescribable hope she embodied all swallowed by the government’s sheer inefficiency, laxity, and negligence.
“In saner climes, the government would have instituted a proactive and holistic audit of the entire processes that led to her death. Instead, government agencies and institutions have been the clog in discovering and ascertaining what actually transpired – which would have helped prevent a reoccurrence.
“Proactively, NMA Lagos Chapter, in association with Lagos State branches of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), inaugurated an investigative panel, saddling them with three (3) major tasks, namely, finding the root cause of the incident, engaging relevant stakeholders, and recommending way forward to prevent reoccurrence.
“It is disheartening to note that of all the stakeholders invited by the panel, only the Lagos State Safety Commission and the Medical Guild responded. Others who flagrantly ignored the invites include the Medical Director of General Hospital, Odan, Immediate and past Medical Director of General Hospital, Odan, Chairman and Permanent Secretary of Health Service Commission, General Manager of Lagos State Infrastructure Asset Management Agency (LASIAMA), and the facility manager of the building – Sekida Global Concepts Nigeria Limited.
“Consequently, the panel had to strenuously work with the meagre information at its disposal. In its fact-finding interaction with the Medical Guild, it was discovered that the lift was installed by Horivac in 2016 during the renovation of the building. However, due to its epileptic operation, a new lift was installed by Teejay Elevator Limited in 2021; however, the lift was inoperative the day it was to be commissioned.
“In other words, another refurbished cadaver replaced a moribund lift, setting a death trap for several dutiful medical practitioners. The two (2) car lifts fitted for the ten (10)-floor multi-storey building was void of professional excellence, maintenance, and appropriate repair.
“Lagos State Safety Commission’s preliminary assessment revealed that the safety devices of the lift were bad, and the buffer at the bottom of the lift was not working. Worse off, the maintenance records were not kept.
“Previously, several complaints have been lodged about the erratic and malfunctioning elevator. But nothing tangible was done to salvage the mechanical fault.
“During the panel’s visit to the site of the incident, they were inundated with worrisome history of breakdowns of the only lift in operation (accidented lift). The other lift was disabled, and its parts were removed to effect the repair of the accidented lift.
“Judging from our findings, LASIAMA grossly failed in discharging its responsibilities and core objectives of ensuring improved health and safety in the working environment. Also, there was no evidence of a contract between LASIAMA and Teejay Elevator Limited. Similarly, there was no legal document between LASIAMA and Sekida Global Concepts Nigeria Limited – the facility manager.
“The flagrant refusal by other stakeholders inhibited the wholesome investigation of the incident as various questions were flying in scalar mode without any corresponding answers. Many legal and design documents would have laid to rest some of these brewing questions.
“The panel gave some recommendations, one of which is a coroner inquest to unravel the circumstances of death and findings of the autopsy (if any) conducted on the deceased’s body, as provided under the coroner system law of Lagos State.
“After that, a coroner inquest request letter was sent to the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice but received no response or acknowledgement.
“When diligence to duty is sternly refuted by an unsafe workplace and further aggravated by questionable bureaucratic processes, the aftermath is dangerous for our society.
“Suppose doctors, in an attempt to provide basic health care, are ignobly killed, and the government keeps paying lip service and sycophantic gesticulations. Where do we go from here?
“How can the government employ people to work in a dangerous and near-grave environment yet ignore the consequences of its ineptitude and inefficiency? Without mincing words, this is the height of irresponsibility and negligence.
“It is instructive to put the government on notice that those who make change impossible ultimately make it inevitable. You cannot continually sacrifice the lives of doctors on the altar of negligence and expect it to be business as usual.
“Many medical practitioners have evaluated the sheer neglect of their welfare and have decided to ply their trade in other countries where their proficiencies are better appreciated. Funny enough, the same government labels them unpatriotic and slams other unprintable names on them. But those who stayed back are constantly killed without recourse to justice.
“How does one make sense of a system that frustrates professionals, chelates their freedom, and frankly makes justice a taboo? Those who come into equity must come with clean hands. Government officials must first exhibit patriotism, not by merely singing it as anthems through paid television advertisements or harping it as a cliché in the comfort of their offices.
“Sadly, Dr. Vwaere is gone, and her demise had etched an irreparable hole in our souls, but must we lose more doctors in a similar tragic manner?
“The response to the above question must be a wake-up call to duty for every elected, appointed, and employed official to promptly execute their tasks when due. Going forward, a spade must be called a spade, not a farming implement, and negligence of any form would not be tolerated.”
“We must play our individual roles to see the change we have always shouted and chanted about. Behind every working system are devoted and committed people. It is wise to learn from our errors but foolish to dismiss and repeat them.
“Finally, I suppose it is not a crime to practice as a medical doctor in Lagos State. In that case, the government must stop throwing doctors into the cruel jaws of untimely death.
Our lives matter to our family and loved ones.
“Hence, we refuse to move on from the death of Dr. Vwaere Diaso until the actual cause of her death is unearthed, every culpable individual is punished, and adequate measures to prevent reoccurrence are implemented; we won’t abate because we cannot afford to lose another doctor to avoidable negligence of the government,” it added.