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UMTH: Increase in hospital bed space and the views of Bystander   

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UMTH: Making The Good news As Centre of Excellence     

UMTH: Increase in hospital bed space and the views of Bystander   

By:Balami Lazarus   

Bystanders often are ignorant of the realities around them. So it is normal for such to assume as much as they could about happenings around them. It was of these classic examples that the saying ‘ignorance is a disease’ perhaps was coined to depict such classes of ignoramus in society. Of course, the social media platforms had afford some of these clowns to put on pages dramatic assumptions in their imaginations as pen pushers.

Let me educate my friends who recently are attacking the CMD University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital over the recent slight in the increments of bed space in the hospital. Most of those who are speaking ill of the administration did not know what is the cost of running a hospital like the UMTH and also did not care to know. If one thinks he is educated and also falls within these classes of people, then I think education has not played any role in shaping such people’s ability to think outside their immediate views.

Professor Ahmed Ahidjo -CMD, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital

Worst of all it is rather pitiable for one who thinks he has the ability to write yet writing on the prism of false imagination and dunking on hearsay rather than taking the challenges to investigate with the chest of asking critical question from managers of organizations, in this case the management of the UMTH on what informed the slight in increments of bed space.

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I have decided to pick one out of the numerous online posts as my response to unkind assumptions by one Abubakar Hassan Sabo to reach others with wet- blankets. The recent slight and reasonable increment of bed per day in the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) by the Board of Management has not gone well with some persons within and outside the hospital who refused to see and accept the reality of our economic situation affecting every aspect of our social life including health institutions.

I felt moved when I met Professor Ahmed Ahidjo recently while he was explaining the situation and challenges of running the hospital against the meager resources. When I asked, he lamented: “You just met me discussing how to maintain and improve the consumption of our solar energy. Supposing the hospital is operating without any means of energy, don’t you think the attack and insults on my person could have been more than this? Well, the upward review was not done by me but by the Management of UMTH. My annoyance is how some people out there are heaping blames, insults, attacking and calling me names. People should learn to ask questions to understand the Why and How of things. However, as the Head you are always at the receiving end, good or bad”

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His words drop like an arrow in the heart of a wandering man. I know exactly the pain surrounding the circumstance of his dilemma. Professor Ahmed Ahidjo has done what many before him could not do to the hospital and we can only pray to have someone like him after his second tenure. Those who knew UMTH before now will understand my point and I am privileged to know a lot about the hard way he had to follow to make this a reality.

For Abubakar Hassan Sabo, If he is writing from a distance I invite him to the UMTH to see and compare notes to what is obtainable in other Teaching hospitals. Hassan Abubakar Sabo capitalized his reason hiding under the cloak of the economy to say it is unacceptable. But his reasons are porous and full of red ink which cannot be used as a reference point. Another of his friends on this side of the road is one Abba Haroon Ibrahim Chichi. His write-up portrays anger and lack of professionalism in which case I think he was never writing to correct issues but rather trying to settle a score if any or being a blind assumer like his friends who never see beyond their nose for news.

It should be known to these cowards with pens that the decision to increase bed space at the UMTH was collectively taken by the members of the Management of the hospital having considered the difficulties faced by UMTH. The inability of UMTH to cater for some of the immediate needs in the cause of daily health- care service delivery in caring for human health should be of concern to all and embrace the decision taken so as to meet the health needs of the people.

Bed space in some of the cheapest hospitals – I mean teaching hospitals goes between #6000 and #7000. What UMTH did was with human face in a circular dated 8th July 2022 signed by Amina Mohammed Bello acting Director of Administration. It reads: “This is to inform the General Public that the hospital Board of Management has approved the upward review of the hospital bed per day. The increments for Adult #2000 per day and for Children #1000 per day”. I believe if compared to other Teaching Hospitals, this is nothing to write home about.

Balami is a Publisher/ Columnist   08036779290

UMTH: Increase in hospital bed space and the views of Bystander   

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With Fury of a Tempest, Alau Dam Flood 

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With Fury of a Tempest, Alau Dam Flood 

By: Balami Lazarus 

Who wants to be a millionaire? a television quiz program anchored by one Frank Idoho, which I hardly missed. I recalled a question once asked: Where is Lake Alau? In the options, there was Borno state among other states. The young man on the hot seat gave a wrong answer. I believe because Lake Alau was then not popular, unlike its cousin, Lake Chad. 

Not much is known about the Lake, Alau, and the dam known and called Lake Alau Dam put together. Let me first start with the lake as a natural geographical feature, a large body of water surrounded by land. However, and to the best of my findings, there is no available written document on the history of this lake in question. But it held that the Lake was there many years traceable to the period of the Kanem- Borno Empire. While the present Alau was a small settlement that emerged during the formative years of Shehu’s dynasty from 1846 to the present day. It later grew into a village with people of Kanuri extraction. 

Alau is today part of the Konduga Local Government Area of Borno state, some few kilometers away from Maiduguri city center. For the purpose of providing portable drinking water and to improve agriculture through irrigation farming and fishing, a dam was constructed by the past administration of the state from 1984 to 1986. The project was tagged as Water for Borno. Thereby, Lake Alau Dam has become part of the people’s lives, for its importance cannot be quantified. 

The recent Alau Dam flood that nearly swept away the city of Maiduguri came with a raging fury of a tempest in September 2024 I will liken to one of the works of William Shakespeare—”The Tempest.”TheTempest”. That of the play was simply and deliberately raised to humble palace traitor Antonio and his co-conspirators, who ousted Duke Prospero, whom they marooned on a deserted island, leaving him to his fate. But ours came with devastating destruction and killing with ravaging effect from head to tail, which has caused unestimated damage. 

The flood was not because of the heavy rainfall experienced last season but from the overflow of the dam and subsequent breakoff of its decks. My last visit to Lake Alau Dam with some friends was years back. What was observed and saw were obsolete facilities that were outdated, old, and weakly decked. There was nothing to show that the dam is being cared for. But while growing up in Zaria as kids, we were so used to seeing Kubani and the University (ABU) dams being opened up to let out large quantities of water to avoid overflow and flooding. Has Alau Dam ever experienced that? Has it been dredged? 

Therefore, the 13-man committee led by Mr. Liman Gana Mustapha, a professional town planner, may wish to consider these questions as an inroad to finding a lasting solution to the flood matter. 

Balami, a Publisher/Columnist. 08036779290

With Fury of a Tempest, Alau Dam Flood 

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The Rise and Fall of Garkida, a Social Decline

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The Rise and Fall of Garkida, a Social Decline 

By: Balami Lazarus 

In my recent visit to see my aged mother in Shaffa, a small rural town. In a chat with some of my peers, Garkida came up, and one of us immediately informed the group that the town is socially dredged. I made some findings, and you may wish to agree. I believed students of history my generation were once taught about the rise and fall of great empires, kingdoms, rulers, warriors, and other historical events during our secondary school days. In the cause of those lessons, our imaginations were always taken far to other lands. 

We never thought that someday there would be a fall or decline of our own, which could be a town, village, or settlement, but never like the fall of the known historical empires/kingdoms of Oyo, Jukun, Fante/Ashante, Kanem-Borno, Songhai, etc. To rise is a difficult task in life or in the course of growth, be it individual, town, or city. But to fall is easy. Garkida has rose and fallen, or, to say, declined socially. Once a bubbling rural town in Buraland, being in Gombi Local Government Area of Adamawa State has nose-dived from the social ladder. 

As a historian, I will not subscribe to the use of the term fall; it will defile my histo-journalistic sense of reasoning because Garkida is a proper noun and is there real. So it will rather go well with me and perhaps some readers of this essay to accept Declined as a better use of historical language for the purpose of this work. I am not a native of Garkida and have never lived there, but it was the home of my cousins and nieces long before now. 

As a young man, I had it well with friends when the town was in her social chemistry and apogee. In spite of her decline, the arrears in our kitty, notwithstanding the flow of time, are the mutual friendship, an indelible mark in our social life. I remember clearly as a holiday-maker with my grandmother at Shaffa, Garkida was the in-thing in our youthful days because of the mass social activities that used to take place there. 

There were social interactions with friends and relatives from different places, parties of all kinds—a social front burner. And to most of my peers, it was the center of today’s mobile social handle—Facebook, where you meet and make new friends. That was Garkida for us. As a rural town, it flourished with glamour, elegance, and pride, triggered by the social engineering of Who is Who? The creme de la creme of her sons and daughters who made nane in their vocations or professions that promoted and spread the name of Garkida as social lighthouse. 

It was the abode of top military brass in the ranks of generals. Her businessmen once made the town tick as a cluster of has.  It was the nerve of vogue and socialites in Buraland. There was declined in this capacity. Historically, Garkida came to the limelight and appeared on the colonial map of Nigeria in 1923, when the white Christian missionaries of CBN/EYN first settled there and made it their home on the 17th March of the aforementioned year. The beginning of her social mobility started in the 1970s, through the 1980s, to the dawn of the 1990s, her zenith. 

I doff my hat for the united daughters of Garkida; credit goes to them; their exposures, taste, beauty, love, elegance, sophistication, unity of purpose, and social agrandisement made them wives of husbands of men from far and near who are of different walks of life. The women of Garkida were a central force, once the venus de milo of the town before its social decline. I cannot conclude this article without appreciating the fact that Garkida was the center of learning and vocational training and once the hold of good and efficient healthcare services in Buraland and its neighbors. Today, Garkida is no longer in the vantage position. 

Balami, a Publisher/Columnist, 08036779290.

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Kashim Shettima, Leadership, and the Flood in Maiduguri

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Kashim Shettima, Leadership, and the Flood in Maiduguri

Kashim Shettima, Leadership, and the Flood in Maiduguri

By Dr. James Bwala

These past few days, I have been thinking back on the flood in Maiduguri. I have spoken with at least thirty people who have been impacted by the flood, and their responses and comments regarding the flood and Vice President Kashim Shettima’s leadership struck me as something people had never observed at the worst of this natural calamity. In addition to highlighting the environmental issues the area is facing, the recent flooding in Maiduguri has also highlighted the leadership style of Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima. Due to excessive rainfall, a section of the Alau dam broke, and insufficient drainage systems, the region’s already preexisting socioeconomic vulnerabilities have been made worse by the floods. In light of this, Shettima’s reaction and crisis management techniques are worthy of close scrutiny.

Shettima’s proactive attitude to governance, especially during times of crisis, has frequently been described as a hallmark of his leadership style. During his term as Borno State’s governor, he made large infrastructural improvements meant to increase the state’s resilience to severe catastrophes. Notwithstanding these endeavors, Maiduguri’s persistent shortcomings in urban planning and emergency preparedness are brought to light by the latest floods. It is admirable how Shettima can organize resources and interact with the community in times of need.

The former Borno State governor and current vice president of Nigeria, Kashim Shettima, has taken the lead in resolving these crises. His proactive approach to leadership is marked by a desire to both build community resilience and lessen the effects of natural disasters. Shettima has advocated for long-term infrastructure improvements in addition to organizing resources for emergency relief operations in response to the flooding issue. Through collaboration with several entities, such as non-governmental organizations and foreign agencies, his objective is to furnish those impacted by the floods with basic amenities like potable water, food, and medical support.

Nigeria’s VP Kashim Shettima

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Severe flooding has caused serious problems for Maiduguri and made the humanitarian crises already plaguing the area worse. Kashim Shettima’s prompt action has been essential in meeting the impacted communities’ urgent needs. He took preemptive steps to deliver relief supplies such as food, medical supplies, and shelter for displaced people by organizing local resources and liaising with national agencies. This prompt action not only demonstrates good leadership, but it also emphasizes how crucial leadership is in emergency situations.

The Vice President’s strategy included a thorough evaluation of the flooding damage, which made it possible to identify the most vulnerable groups for focused actions. Through his interactions with local officials and citizens, he made sure that relief efforts were appropriate for the setting and sensitive to cultural differences. By encouraging a sense of ownership among local stakeholders, this participatory technique improved confidence in government activities.

Different stakeholders in the state have responded differently to the visit of Nigeria’s vice president, Kashim Shettima, to address flood victims. Numerous localities have experienced devastation as a result of the extraordinary floods, which has resulted in property and human casualties. Many of the victims Shettima spoke with expressed hope that his presence would spur government action to provide desperately needed relief and to begin rehabilitation efforts. The significance of direct involvement from high-ranking officials was underscored by community leaders, who saw it as an indication that their predicament is being recognized on a national scale.

Kashim Shettima spoke about the suffering of flood victims who have been badly impacted by unusual flooding while on a recent visit to Maiduguri. His words were meant to be comforting, but they also served as a guide for healing and restoration. Shettima underlined the necessity of unity and group efforts to address this environmental catastrophe. He emphasized that in order to ensure that relief efforts are efficient and timely, the government would mobilize resources to aid individuals who have been displaced by the floods.

Shettima’s speech also emphasized how crucial community resilience is to surviving tragedies like this. He asked residents and local authorities to work together with government organizations to identify high-risk locations and put precautionary measures in place to avoid similar flooding incidents in the future. Shettima sought to empower communities while easing their immediate pains through coordinated relief activities by encouraging a sense of shared responsibility.

Dr. James Bwala, PhD, writes from Abuja.

Kashim Shettima, Leadership, and the Flood in Maiduguri

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