FUNAAB final year student dies “due to insufficient oxygen” at Federal hospital
After years of toiling, Olaniyi’s dreams to obtain an academic certificate would have become reality on Monday, December 11.
But the student of Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) died just before the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) could resolve its ongoing disagreement with the FG.
News about his death has become even more disturbing as his friends and colleagues claim he had been subjected to substandard medical treatment at a Federal hospital after he was involved in an accident last Friday.
Ashimi Olaniyi Fatai, Neusroom reliably gathers, had gone on a trip to Ibadan for World Soil Conference with some of his mates. The students were all involved in an accident while returning from the event.
They were rushed to the Federal Medical Centre at Idi-Aba, Abeokuta, with hopes that the government hospital would do just enough to get them back on their feet hale and hearty.
According to the deceased’s mates who were at FMC, the hospital has no X-ray machine, adequate oxygen nor functional ambulance in its premises.
Due to lack of adequate facilities for a thorough test, medical personnel couldn’t detect that Olaniyi had internal bleeding.
After alleged delay and wrong diagnosis, he would later be recommended for treatment at UCH… Olaniyi didn’t make it.
“He was transferred with insufficient oxygen which led to his death,” his colleagues allege.
“The oxygen he was placed on finished,” the deceased’s sister is also quoted as saying. “And when we got to UCH they didn’t receive him despite that the doctors at FMC had called before we left FMC. When we eventually got a ward that has small oxygen…he’s gone.”
Olaniyi’s colleagues who were also involved in the accident, we understand, continue to endure horrible medical care at FMC.
The deceased has been described as a “great guy” by his colleagues… But his country failed him in many ways in a space of days.
The students blame the accident on bad road.
His classmate, Mofolu, cried: “Our road, our hospitals, education has to be attended to. We would have written our last paper yesterday if not for ASUU.”
“These students would not be in this situation if the Abeokuta to Ibadan road was not a narrow one. Not only is it narrow, it is also in a deplorable state,” another student, Samuel, says.
The standard of health care for an average Nigerian is appalling. President Buhari, governors, lawmakers and their families have never had a cause to worry about substandard medical care.
Health minister Isaac Adewole said few months ago that as of May 30, 2018, a total of 88,692 doctors are registered in the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria’s books.
“Of these doctors, only 45,000 are currently practicing and that gives us a ratio one doctor to 4,088 persons,” Adewole had said.
A N340.456 billion sum was proposed for the Federal Ministry of Health in the 2018 budget. The sum indicated four percent of the overall budget of N9.1 trillion and a ten percent increase on its allocation in the 2017 budget.
