Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana,
SAN, has frowned at the medical treatment of President Muhammadu Buhari abroad.
The senior lawyer said such an
act not only constituted a gross abuse of the rights of the less privileged but
a serious reflection of pervasive inequality among Nigerian citizens.
He said since such benefit cannot
be enjoyed by all Nigerians irrespective of their status and class, it was a
sad reflection of class differences in the country.
The lawyer also said that the
federal government should henceforth be responsible for the payment of ransom
demanded by kidnappers for any kidnapped Nigerian, stressing “the
responsibility of government is to protect our lives and property.”
The human rights lawyer made the
statement on Thursday at Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti during the
launching of a book entitled, ‘Financing Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria’
written by Dr Olaofe Ogundipe.
He said, “Let me say, if I am
kidnapped today and I pay ransom to secure my freedom, I will surely take FG to
court to refund my money because it is the responsibility of government to
secure my life.”
Falana further wondered why the
president and other top Nigerians like the late Vice President, Dr Alex Ekwueme
could be hurriedly flown abroad for medical treatments, while Nigerian
hospitals were being ill-equipped thereby causing death of poor Nigerians who
suffer lesser afflictions.
Falana spoke on the topic, ‘The
Justiceability of Health As a Human Right’, maintaining that the Section 17 of
the constitution and National Health Act 2014 made it a matter of imperative
for government to foot the medical bills of poor Nigerians, regretting that
these are not being implemented.
“In the last couple of years,
President Buhari has been flown abroad for medical treatment at public expense.
“In the same vein, the federal
government recently announced that it would pick up the medical bills of the
late former Vice President, Dr Ekwueme in a London hospital.
“While the nation’s leaders
deserve the best medical treatment for the preservation of their lives, it is
our submission that the FG must bear the medical bills of all citizens without
discrimination.
“This submission is anchored on
Section 42 of the constitution which has guaranteed the fundamental right of
every citizen to freedom from discrimination in a manner that no citizen shall
be accorded any special advantage over and above others.
“While it is correct to state
that section 17(3) of the constitution which has imposed a duty on state to
ensure that there are adequate medical and health facilities for all persons is
not justiceable, it is submitted that the fundamental right to health which is
inseparable to the right to life is enforceable”, he said.
He called on the federal
government to ensure the effectiveness of the National Health Insurance Scheme,
NHIS, by making it affordable for every citizen.
“Instead of the healthcare
providers to do the right thing, they were only using the opportunity to cheat
the subscribers by giving them undeserving patronage for them to make more money”,
he alleged.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com