OOUTH: A Teaching Hospital Crying For Urgent Deliverance

In January 2019, the special search light of Rights and Freedom Advocates (RIFA) was beamed on the Ogun State hospital Ijaye, Abeokuta where the rot then was brought to public and authorities’ attention.

The intervention then led to improvement in the services being rendered by staff of the Hospital. Since then, RIFA extended the passion for the public welfare to other hospitals and this led the group to Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH/OSUTH) in Sagamu and Abeokuta, Ogun State where the staff were even afraid to speak on the rot at the health institution that is to serve as a cure centre for the ill.

RIFA did intend to survey only the patients to seek their opinions on extent of service quality being received and how responsive the nurses were at OOUTH but were dismayed by the reign of terror operating there culminating in both patients and the staff resentment.

The palpable authoritarianism operating at the Hospital perhaps caused the grip that caught staff contacted to be afraid to speak out. Chief Medical Director and a daunting Deputy Director of Nursing services (DDNS) that got promoted when their seniors were ignored could best explained the rot in the system.

Or what service delivery could one expect from demoralised staff when a Doctor heads OOUTH when Professors abound in the institution ditto to a deputy director of nursing (DDNS) who was made senior to those with higher qualifications and experience at OOUTH both in the year of joining the hospital and years of presenting certificates?

How did we expect relegated staff to be competitively productive when their zeal for competition for excellence has been selfishly dampened by demeaning political interference that even subjugated both nurses and administration staff to whims and caprices of politicians who bring head of units even from outside the hospital using strange criteria?

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At the Hospital, the chief back door influencer who oppresses anyone at sight was the only one promoted in April 2018 to Assistant Director of Nursing Services (ADNS) and at the twilight of last administration in April/May 2019, she was hurriedly made Deputy Director (DDNS) despite having only degree even when others including those who have submitted their Masters and were even with more years’ experience at the Hospital than her were ignored for promotion since 2009 which is against extant service rules.

How could a promotion be done twice within a year for a single staff leaving others when Article 4.0 of the Service rules for nursing profession as released in July 2016 by Federal Government and signed by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation; Mrs Winifred E. Oyo-Ita FCA made provision for three years for promotion of senior nursing staff based on qualification and experience?

Apart from the hospital being run against the Edit that established it which requires it to be governed by a properly constituted board, the hospital has been turned to a political tool without functional board.

This perhaps resulted in the unethical attitude of Mrs Kikelomo Enaholo; the ADNS/DDNS whose messenger even oppressed staff using hijab at Abeokuta annex on January 28, 2020 in addition to Mrs Enaholo early January 2020 war on staff hijab users at OOUTH Sagamu culminating in public harassment of Nurses even in the presence of patients. Why this ugly situation in Ogun state during the current administration?

Low level of staff commitment to work and poor service quality delivery to patients could be as a result of staff denigration by Ogun State government for its favourite staff. This has made the DDNS turned to a thorn on the progress and freedom of others.

She was even alleged to have withheld a junior staff promotional letter for daring to wear hijab as approved by government. Except Ogun state government wants OOUTH to die prematurely, there is urgent need to revive the hospital by ensuring cerebrally qualified personnel and non-extremists unlike Mrs Enaholo are justifiably placed to where they are supposed to be.

Our findings revealed that while ADNS/DDNS was promoted twice within a year, most of other senior staff members (nurses and administration staff) have been stagnant in their current positions since 2009, a pitiable condition for those even with higher qualifications. RIFA only wonder why Ogun State now retrogresses from the excellence it stood for in the past despite the fact that many competent and ethically-sound indigenes abound worldwide.

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The victimization of both staff and patients is more pronounced in the Nursing services under Mrs Kikelomo Enaholo and most especially, Community Medicine department of the hospital where one Mrs Babalola happened to be the ringleader.

The duo of extremist and manipulative Mrs kikelomo Enaholo and Mrs Babalola deserve not to be in public service and their continue stay in their positions may confirm the insinuation that some Ogun State government officials- past and present, actually sent them on errand to unleash terror on innocent staff and patients. Apart from the duo causing rift among staff, they have been exhibiting religious extremism unexpected of a public officer.

The most worrisome was a report that Mrs EnahoIo tries to impose her faith on patients. A report which was confirmed had it that a woman patient when could no longer bear her extremism was withdrawn home by family where she gave up the ghost shortly after leaving the hospital.

When has faith of patients become a criterion to determining treatment in public hospitals? Mrs Enaholo and Babalola disdainful agenda of extremism among staff and patients really puts their victims’ safety in serious danger.

So, the public could understand why OOUTH is crying for deliverance. In fact, why should such an academic environment be headed not by a Professor and one expects better brains to stay and be controlled by their junior? Only God knows how it manages to have National University Commission (NUC) accredit the University programmes.

The state government should ensure meritocracy for public confidence to be restored at the hospital. Lack of governing board to guide the management that would make it competitive among its peers further buttressed the agony of the Ogun State-owned OOUTH.

More so, the institution’s facilities seem to have witnessed a decline due to poor funding and lack of appropriate recognition of staff by the government. Despite Governor Dapo Abiodun visit to the institution in June 2019 to inspect the facilities in place where he expressed shock and disappointment over the deplorable condition of the hospital, the committee set up by him had not achieved any significant difference till date as it only presented reported wanted of it by the management and not the reality of the hospital.

The OOUTH theatres need total overhauling; the brain CT scan, echo cardiography machine, MRI, mobile x-ray machines, peak flow meter, spirometry, dialysis machines, C-arm for orthopedic cases, operating tables, etc are all in deplorable conditions in dire need of replacement.

A teaching hospital that cannot boast of the kind or more of facilities that private health institutions have is in serious mess. RIFA opine that human lives should be taken serious by the government while staff promotion should be justly attended to especially for those senior staff who have been stagnant since 2009 while those who got manipulated promotion should be restored to where they belong and perhaps made to refund money collected for unworthy posts without allowing politicians have unnecessary influence on extant rules to favour their women friend at the altar of justice and fairness.

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Mrs Enaholo and her emissaries at OOUTH Abeokuta annex oppressing staff members using hijab should be excused from public service since they are not comfortable with public ethos as they constitute threats to harmonious relationship of indigenes and residents.

The staff, should as a matter of professionalism, discharge their duties diligently while no patient should be unnecessarily subjected to psychological trauma in the name of extremism or imposition of a nurse faith.

The government on its part should allow extremists especially; Mrs Enaholo to take her extremism elsewhere.

Luqman Soliu,

President,

Rights and Freedom Advocates (RIFA)

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