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Dr Henry Olusegun Gbelee, a consultant paediatric nephrologist was, last weekend, installed as Otunba Gbobaniyi of Iwoye Ijesa Kingdom, Osun State. His wife, Mrs Hussainatu Kehinde, was equally installed as Yeye Otunba Gbobaniyi. In this interview with KEHINDE OLATUNJI, he spoke on importance of fostering development in the community and how to address prevailing challenges in the health sector.
Yoruba Civilisation’s Ancient, Advanced, Urbanised
What does this title, Otunba Gbobaniyi, mean to you?
It means a lot, because such honour is given to highly accomplished men and women in the community, membership is exclusive, and to qualify, an individual has to be highly regarded and well spoken of in the community. The person must also demonstrate a strong record of leadership and service within the community. The person has a great influence in the community; the epithet, ‘Chief’, is a cultural privilege that gives certain responsibility, which requires my services for the upliftment of the society. I am highly honoured and most humbled to be rewarded with the title of Otunba Gbobaniyi and my darling wife as the Yeye Otunba Gbobaniyi of Iwoye-Ijesa.
What is the role of Gbobaniyi in national development?
My role as Gbobaniyi of Iwoye-Ijesa is significant in the development of my community, state and country at large. I will be a custodian of our rich tradition and cultural heritage. I will play a major role in preserving, promoting and passing on the cultural identity of my community. This cultural preservation is cornerstone of the country’s identity and history.
My office, as the Otunba Gbobaniyi, supports the Oba in resolving disputes and conflicts, promoting peace and harmony in the community. By doing this, I will be contributing to social stability and creating an environment conducive for development. I will support the Oba in providing guidance, inspiration and direction for the people of Iwoye-Ijesa Kingdom.
I will also support the Oba in promoting cultural events, community festivals and traditions that are expected to attract tourists and contribute to the country’s tourism development, as well as, enhance positively, our cultural diversity. I will support the Oba in stimulating the local economy by encouraging investment, entrepreneurship and fostering community development, and this will play a role in job creation and wealth generated within the community. I will help the Oba in preserving and teaching the history and customs of my community, thereby, contributing to the continuity of the tradition and social cohesion: Hence, providing a stable foundation for development. I will support the Oba in mobilising people of Iwoye-Ijesa community for collective action on developmental projects, health campaigns and disaster response efforts. I will always support the Oba in advocating for policies that will benefit the Iwoye-Ijesa Kingdom and the country at large.
My role as the Otunba Gbobaniyi is multifaceted and deeply rooted in historical context, thereby, contributing to broader national identity, preservation of cultural heritage, promoting peace and fostering economic growth.
With this title, how would you foster development in the community?
Fostering development in the community is extremely important as the Otunba literally means the king’s right hand man. I will play a very influential role in the community, driving development based on participation, barrier rewards transparency, accountability, and local power for the community whereas to work together in development project actions that are important to Iwoye-Ijesa community, I will foster project developments rooted in the belief that all people should have access to sound health, wealth, justice and opportunity. This way, I will fully participate in the fulfilment of variety of wider ends.
What role do you think the government can play to ensure that community titleholders can contribute to national development?
Government plays a critical role in ensuring that traditional titleholders in all communities within the nation can effectively contribute to national development. The government can establish clear legal frameworks that describe the role, power and responsibilities of traditional titleholders. This framework should respect the rule of law, human rights and the Nigerian Constitution, while recognising the role of traditional titleholders in the country. The government should officially recognise the role of traditional titleholders, acknowledging their historical significance and influence in the society.
Government should actively engage the traditional titleholders in planning and implementation of policies and development initiatives. This collaboration will ensure that government’s effort aligns with local needs and priorities. It will also ensure that the community’s voices are considered and included in development agenda.
It should support traditional titleholders in promoting economic growth in their communities. This may involve providing incentives for investment supporting local business and collaboration on job creation initiatives.
Government should be involved with the support of the traditional title holders in allocating resources for improving infrastructure including roads, health care facilities, education and other essential facilities within the community. This will lift living standards and enhance local development.
By taking all these steps, government can create an environment in which traditional titleholders in each community are empowered to play a more active and constructive role in local and national development. This collaboration can lead to more inclusive, culturally sensitive and sustainable development strategies.
How do we ensure our culture as a source of our pride?
Our culture includes different types of arts, literature, architecture, festivals and many more. All these rich cultures should be projecting and pushing boundaries and respecting the position of our country in the global scale, our culture should be our pride. There are many things that we should feel proud of and foremost among them is our culture, traditions and heritage.
Culture is the most important thing that makes our country great. We should not underestimate its importance. Our country’s respectable place in the world is being pushed to a new height by the rich culture we have. I strongly believe that our culture is without doubt where our pride comes from. In conclusion, our culture is indeed our pride; it is a valuable part of our personal identity and a vital aspect of the collective identity of our society.
What can you tell us about Yoruba civilisation, disciplines?
Yoruba civilisation encompasses an interlocking network of disciplines. These are sustained by particular epistemic frameworks, ideas and natural knowledge within the larger domain of the Yoruba civilisation projected forward through distinctive processes. These disciplines constitute Yoruba knowledge capital, a conglomerate development growing and changing across centuries within a configuration building on older ideas and practices as new ones are developed.
This knowledge capital was preceded and transmitted orally for centuries by a community of practitioners and in its oral and newer written form; it is increasingly extending beyond Yorubaland into the Americas. Yoruba civilisation is one of the most ancient, advanced and urbanised in the world.
As a medical practitioner, how would you describe the health sector currently?
The healthcare indicators in Nigeria are some of the worst in Africa; the country has one of the fastest growing populations globally with the population growth rates of 3.2 per cent and 54.07 life expectancy per annum. It is estimated that the Nigerian population would rise to 440 million by 2050.
The quality of healthcare services disregard the poor and remains a huge source of concern, most of the Primary Health Care facilities are signatory to the weak health needs of the poor and rural areas.
Owing to poor budgeting allocation there is a need to provide social health protection schemes targeted at this group of the poor and vulnerable population in Nigeria. We cannot develop a healthcare sector if these services continue, we must set our health priorities and help the poor, and we have the resources and manpower to make our healthcare system one of the best in the world. Unfortunately, we lack the political will to do what the government should frantically address.
The progressive deterioration experienced in the Nigerian health care system is the result of a weakened political will, on the part of successive governments to selectively resolve and solve a number of problems that have long existed in the sector over many years.
Primary healthcare, which is the most important level of care, is in the hands of the weakest level of government. This resulted in a weak and disjointed healthcare system with an overall poor inadequate population health.
According to the South East Asia Journal Of Public Health 2017, the inadequate programmes designed to address the numerous health problems in Nigeria have led to the little improvement in our health status. Besides, the continued neglect of the importance of addressing public health issues would make matters worse for poor Nigerians most of who are at the receiving end.
The major public health challenges Nigeria faces are infectious diseases, control of vector borne diseases, maternal mortality, infant mortality, poor sanitation and hygiene, disease surveillance, non-communicable diseases, road traffic injuries and so on.
Nigeria has the highest burden of sickle cell disease, among the black skin population. About 150,000 children die from it every year. Nigeria has about 3.4 million HIV infected people, 150,000 people have died from AIDS in Nigeria annually and only about 33 per cent of the infected people received treatment annually. The development of health care services in Nigeria is mainly due to political instability, corruption, institutional capacity that are limited and the unstable economy.
In conclusion, the World Health Organisation statistics shows that in 1970, the average life expectancy for men was 37.2 years and for women 36.7. By 2011 these figures increased for women to 55.3 and for men 48.9. This indicated an improvement in the quality of life. The country’s life expectancy is ranked 216 in the world and 16 in Africa.
In China and Japan average life expectancy is 83 to 84 years while in some European countries the life expectancy is 82 years.
We are still experiencing brain drain in Nigeria and this is affecting our academic sector adversely. What is your take?
Brain drain is a very big disadvantage to the Nigerian as a nation. It is a waste of human capital resources and intellectual properties. Putting an end to Nigerian brain drain requires the collective approach of all and sundry towards ensuring that the juicy remunerations, which warrant many Nigerians abroad, are also made available in Nigeria. Our inability to scheme this will venture to be the clog in the wheel of our national health care progress.
Brain drain could prove detrimental and possess a significant constraint in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Good health and well-being) in Nigeria. The government should prioritise the health sector, given its link on the better life quality and economic development; workers remuneration should be made competitive with international standards
Proposed solution to brain drain in Nigeria includes, more job opportunities with adequate remunerations, quality educational opportunities at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, provision of local incentives, provision for conducive environment for workers, funding of tertiary institutions and accountability in governance.
How do we address the challenges in Nigeria’s health sector?
According to the NMA approximately 2000 doctors leave the country each year. The challenges in Nigeria Health care sector are enormous this include expensive health care, poorly trained and poorly compensated staffs, universal health coverage in Nigeria, unemployment, lack of financial security, poor health care facilities, bad leadership, corruption, high rate of poverty, kidnapping, Boko Haram bombings and killings by Fulani herdsmen and so on.
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