15th July 2025.
Lagos, Nigeria.
We commiserate with the entire family of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari and all others who mourn as he is buried today, 15th July 2025. May God grant him eternal rest and consolation to all who are saddened by his death.
His death in a London hospital brings into focus again, the need to develop healthcare delivery and facilities in our country in order to stem the tide of medical tourism. This anomaly does not only drain the purses of those who can afford it, but more importantly, it also deepens the pain of those who cannot afford medical treatment overseas.
They are left with the feeling that they are being left to die even from the most easily treatable illnesses. If the former First Lady could lament at the poor state of the State House clinic during their tenure, one can only imagine the state of clinics and hospitals meant for the common man. It is indeed a shame that the death of President Buhari makes it the second time that the President of our country would die in hospitals overseas.
The death and burial of former President Buhari should ginger our governments at all levels to wake up to the need for doing something strategic in order to improve the healthcare delivery and the facilities needed in our country. His death is also a wake-up call to find ways of dealing with the issues that lead to the brain drain that has impacted the health sector very badly and continues to impoverish healthcare delivery in the country.
Nearly every health care professional is waiting for an opportunity to Japa and use their expertise to care for peoples of other countries. Ironically, many times it is the same medical professionals that should be taking care of us in the country that people meet in hospitals that they go to abroad.
May the death of former President Muhammadu Buhari be the catalyst for bringing about the necessary improvement of the state of healthcare delivery in our country.
+ Alfred Adewale MartinsArchbishop of Lagos.
15TH JULY 2025
