The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) said in Abuja over the weekend that commissioners for health in Kogi and Cross River States are to face prosecution over their alleged unethical conduct in the fight against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the association, the two commissioners will first face a probe panel put in place by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria for allegedly obstructing the activities of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in their respective states.
National President of NMA, Innocent Ujah, who dropped the hint in Abuja, explained that the two health commissioners have been reported by the NCDC to the Medical and Dental Council for allegedly playing politics with human lives in the two states.
The NMA president, in a lecture with the theme ‘Social Organisations, Human Rights and Covid-19 Pandemic’ he delivered on the 22nd Anniversary and Founders Day Celebration of the Peace Corps of Nigeria over the weekend, held that contrary to the erroneous impression created by the two commissioners that coronavirus does not exist in their states, abundant medical evidence has established existence of the disease.
He said some doctors have to be sanctioned and be made to face trial in competent courts, adding that by their training, doctors are expected to be objective on issues affecting the well-being of humanity.
Ujah, a former Director General of the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research said that the posture of the two health commissioners to the national efforts to control and curtail the Covid-19 pandemic was not only worrisome but unethical.
The NMA chief who took swipe at the two commissioners said that the denial of presence of Covid-19 in the two states was politically motivated and unethical on the part of the two commissioners.
“The truth of the matter in this country today is that Covid-19 is real. It has come and it’s throwing this nation into a big mess.
“It is a known fact today that the greatest challenge to humanity is the corona virus. We do not need to wait till we begin to see dead bodies on our streets before we believe that the disease is with us.
“Regrettably, no age group is spared, the virus is just attacking anybody and we need to take adequate precautions to contain the virus because it may take a long time to get its vaccine”, he said.
The NMA president commended the federal government for opting out of WAEC examination this year, adding that it will be a national tragedy to allow innocent children to be infected by the dreaded disease.
Ujah also praised the Peace Corps of Nigeria for its active support to the federal government in the fight against Covid-19 and called on other youth organisations in the country to emulate the corps.
