Sowore declares he’d rather die than seek treatment abroad as president

VIA SAHARA REPORTERS:

The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has declared that any illness he cannot treat in Nigeria after becoming president should be allowed to kill him.

Sowore vowed not to join the long list of Nigerian leaders who seek medical care abroad while public health institutions remain poorly funded.

Sowore stated this on Thursday while featuring on Channels TV.

Asked whether he had a problem with Nigerian leaders going abroad for treatment, he said “yes”.

Asked if he would do the same as president, Sowore replied: “That’s what I’m saying. Any ailments that I have in Nigeria, when I become president, that can’t be treated in Nigeria. That illness better kill me. I can tell you that for free.”

His comments tap into a long-running controversy in Nigeria, where presidents and governors have repeatedly flown abroad for medical treatment despite overseeing a health sector plagued by underfunding, strikes and brain drain.

In 2017, late President Muhammadu Buhari spent more than 100 days in London receiving treatment for an undisclosed ailment, while Nigerian public hospitals faced chronic shortages of equipment, drugs and personnel.

The late President Umaru Yar’Adua was also flown to Saudi Arabia for treatment, with his prolonged absence sparking a constitutional crisis.

President Bola Tinubu has similarly made repeated private trips to Paris and London that have been widely reported as medical check-ups or rest, even as doctors’ associations warn that the country’s health system is near collapse.

Despite the 2001 Abuja Declaration, in which African Union countries pledged to allocate at least 15 per cent of their national budgets to health, Nigeria has consistently earmarked between 4 and 6 per cent. Out-of-pocket payments account for roughly 70 per cent of health spending, forcing millions of Nigerians to pay for basic care.

Thousands of Nigerian-trained doctors have emigrated to the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and elsewhere, leaving a doctor-to-patient ratio estimated at one doctor to about 5,000 people — far below the World Health Organisation’s recommendation.

On the question of whether his children would school abroad if he becomes president, Sowore said they were born in Nigeria and would likely have finished school by then.

“My children were born here. By the time I become president, my children will probably be almost done from school. So they were born here. Like I told you, I’m not bringing family liabilities back to Nigeria. I already done a lot of liability on them, left them to be on their own, their mom taking care of them,” he said.

“I’m coming to Nigeria as a person who’s coming to work for the Nigerian people. I’m not bringing my children to come and be taking your money or taking what’s available to you. My children will be there as my children, as family and it is their choice,” Sowore stated.

His vow contrasts sharply with the practice of many Nigerian political elites, who routinely seek treatment in London, Paris, Dubai, India and the United States while publicly funded hospitals at home remain ill-equipped.

Critics say the trend reflects a lack of political will to fix the health sector, as leaders who can afford the best care abroad have little incentive to improve domestic facilities.

Whether Sowore’s declaration will translate into policy if elected remains to be seen, but his remarks have renewed debate over medical tourism, public health funding and the personal conduct of Nigeria’s leaders.