The Rampage of Terrorist and Bandit Killings in Nigeria. Where does the blame lie?

ICMS, Inc Reports

By Tom Okure, Ph.D
August 30, 2021

 Is the rampage of killings in Nigeria getting out of control?

It appears according to a recent video on social media by an Islamic Imam (source of video is unknown), that we have all failed as parents, as politicians, as community leaders and as the government of the Federal

Republic of Nigeria to teach our children and the population of Nigeria that human life is sacred and that we should not kill a fellow Nigerian and human being. Is he correct in his assertion and rebuke of the Nigerian society? 

Boko Haram is an Islamist militant group in Nigeria which has been responsible for thousands of killings, suicide bombings and abduction of boys and girls in many schools in the northern states in Nigeria for over 13 year now. There are other militant groups such as the IPOB in the South-East region of Nigeria, and the Fulani northern cattle herders all killing people indiscriminately for one reason or the other all over Nigeria. 

IPOB wants the creation of an independent state of Biafra from the current Nigeria and alleges that it is defending Christians in their propaganda videos and statements. Nevertheless the group adopts a militant posture in their actions by killing even fellow Christians and terrorizing all the citizens in those states where they are opposed.

Fulani cattle herders on the other hand have always moved and grazed their cattle across Nigerian communities over the millennia and since Nigeria gained independence in 1960 from the British. However in the past several years these herders, many of who are illegally armed by the cattle owners are committing a lot of hideous killings in Christian communities as the come into contact with southern communities and farmers protecting their farms from the roaming cattle of the headers.

The current Nigerian Federal Government headed by President Muhammadu Buhari has been unable to prevent these killings and the clashes between the Christian communities and the invading herders.  The government has no solution to the killings so far, only blaming the rampant herder killings “to population pressure, escalating aridity of northern states, and climate change” which is forcing the roaming and nomadic cattle herders to travel further into southern Nigerian states in order to find grazing lands for their cattle.

In the video above, this Imam (a man who leads Muslim worshippers in prayer or in a global general sense, the head of a Muslim community) points the blame squarely on the federal government’s inability to control the bandits and terrorists terrorizing and killing Nigerians in large numbers. The Imam in the video blames himself too and says that we are all (Nigerians) to blame for the excessive killings and the total disregard for the value human life in Nigeria .What is your opinion on this issue? Watch the video:

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All rights reserved by Tom Okure, Ph.D. CEO of Inter-Continental Mgt. Systems, Inc. (or ICMS Inc.). ICMS, Inc., is a multifaceted business and management consulting firm with its head office in Albany, New York        

Brain Drain Among Nigerian Medical Doctors. Who is to blame?

ICMS, Inc Reports

By Tom Okure, Ph.D
August 25, 2021

Nigerian Medical Doctors Migrating From Nigeria for Better Employment Opportunities Abroad

Nigeria is endowed with many natural and human resources including well train medical doctors. Nigerian train doctors are everywhere in the USA and Europe serving in many hospitals. Surveys and available data indicate that over 7,000 trained Nigerian doctors currently serve in combined British and American public health sectors. Many also have left their medical professions in Nigeria to other Nigerian professions with alleged better working conditions. 

Nigerian Doctors Strike: Picture Courtesy Premium Times

This is not a new train. However, as conditions in the Nigerian economy continue to worsen, there has been an increased intensification of Nigerian medical doctors leaving the country for employment abroad because of poor working conditions in Nigeria. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that due to the severe shortage of qualified doctors in Nigeria, one Nigerian doctor now attends to about 6,000 patients contrary to 600 patients recommended by WHO. Recruitment agencies are popping up in major cities like Nigeria's Federal Capital territory of Abuja and are openly recruiting talented doctors seeking to leave the country. But what exactly is attracting well established Nigerian doctors to these recruitment agencies? Well the answer appears  obvious. The recruitment agencies are offering Nigerian doctors an alluring set of employment incentives including higher wages and welfare benefits, peaceful working environment etc., which Nigerian trained doctors say they lack in Nigeria. Interviewed doctors standing in long lines for hours in the hot Abuja sun to apply to migrate from Nigeria complain that too many factors contribute to their decisions to leave Nigeria for employment abroad including among others: failure of the Nigerian government to listen to their pleas for higher wages, improve hospital facilities, equipment and supplies etc. that they need to provide adequate services to their patients. 

Many migrating doctors also say they desire a safe working and stable economic environment to practice their skills and that the excessive strikes in Nigeria does not allow them to do their jobs effectively. In the video above (Video Credit: Courtesy of Galaxy News Abuja, Nigeria), we see and hear how other countries like Saudi Arabia among others, are openly taking advantage of Nigeria economic challenges to recruit our priced and invaluable doctors to meet their own medical needs. This is so sad in a country facing severe medical challenges.

It appears that the solution to Nigerian doctors’ brain drain and the shortage in medical staff will not be resolved anytime soon until the government starts in earnest to change its health policies. Nigerian health policy makers must deliberately pay more attention to improving the salary and welfare conditions of Nigerian doctors and health professionals in general to discourage their migration. Legislation must also be put in place that supports the creation of more medical schools to produce more doctors and medical professional like nurses and laboratory technicians etc.

Should the Nigerian government be concerned about these Doctor Talent recruitment events? This writer says a definite yes. Inquiring minds want to know! What is your opinion/view? We like to hear from you.

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All rights reserved by Tom Okure, Ph.D. CEO of Inter-Continental Mgt. Systems, Inc. (or ICMS Inc.). ICMS, Inc., is a multifaceted business and management consulting firm with its head office in Albany, New York