By Tope Kolawole
On October 3, 2023, our indomitable and revered Public Health Physician/Dermatologist, and Controller of Prisons (Emeritus) Dr Edozie Felix Odiah celebrated his 70th birthday. This, being an important milestone in a person’s life, especially for a man who had the opportunity to serve as Controller of Prisons (Emeritus), provost Newgate College of Health Technology Minna 2016 – 2017. Presently consulting for NGOs in areas of TB, HIV/AIDS Control and community medicine and disease control, Dr Odiah tells us how he feels at 70. Read the excepts
How do you feel at 70
Age they say is just a number. Since bowing out of Federal Service exactly ten years ago today, I have been active professionally. I am basically running consultancy service in Public Health and in other related fields. So, I am retired from active service but not tired, as a physician. Seventy years should have been the actual retirement age for people in healthcare delivery services. My school mates are still practicing in Europe and North America fortunately. So, I am feeling strong, good and grateful to God for taking me up to step seven in my journey to salvation.
Three scores and ten is the age recommended by the scriptures and if you are strong enough, four scores and above. Thank God for taking me to the age of perfect creation. I feel like twenty-eight years old for real.
Tell us about your experience in life having come a long way.
My dear sister, my experience in life as a person will take us a whole day to talk about but I will try and summerise it so that we don’t spend the whole day talking about it.
My journey of life started as a young boy after my primary school at the Christ the Kings school Asa road in Aba in 1959/60, then you have to touch your ear on opposite side of the head with the performing hand.
In December, 1964, I went to my home town Ibusa the newly created midwestern Nigeria for Christmas holidays as my father retired from then Eastern Nigeria Labour office. Stayed back after the holidays after Christmas/New Year. Enrolled for my final primary school class at St. Thomass’ Demonstration school Ibusa, then in Midwestern Nigeria, completed my primary school then proceeded to the Saint Patricks’ College Asaba, for my secondary school education in January 1966.
The war broke out 1967 and we were dispersed to other schools. I was trapped between Ibusa and Asaba from late 1967 to 1968. Sometimes in August 1968, I moved to Lagos, and in January 1969 I enrolled into St. Finbarr’s College where I completed my secondary school December 1971. Worked in Mandillas Motors in Lagos from August 1972 to August 1973 before enrolling for my GCE A’Levels at the only one in Africa Federal School of Science V.I, Lagos September 1973 – 1975 June. Then to Nigeria’s Premier University, the great University of Ibadan in September 1975 to read Agriculture. After my first year, I secured scholarship to study Medicine in the United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) starting September 1976. I graduated in 1983 from the Minsk State Medical Institute as a Medical Doctor and Immediately returned home, where my actual journey in life began.
I served my NYSC here in Abuja 1984/85 after which I left for Kano where I worked briefly with Private Clinic before joining the Nigeria Prisons (Medical) Services in July 1990. 2004/2005 academic year I went into Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) to pursure my post graduate studies in Public Health. In 2007, I enrolled for post graduate certificate in Desmotology. In 2008/2009, I went back to Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) for my Master’s Degree in International Affairs and Diplomacy. I retired from Nigeria Prisons Services Medical Corp October 3rd 2013. In March 2015, I worked as a contract staff of ONSA as the pioneer program manager at the office of the National Coordinator of DERAD program. I spent less than a year in that office due to regime change which eventually disbanded the entire team that worked with the then NSA. I have tried to summerise my experience in these few words, as it were.
Since then, I have been consulting for international NGOs in health education and health information program. Currently, I am the BOT chairman of AVE HEALTH SENSE LIMITED (Think Health, Make Sense), A public Health Research and Social Enterprise Organisation, spreading health and research sense with a mission to add value extraordinarily to humanity through public health research, social enterprise and programs. This is my abridged experience in life (Laughs)
You are 70 and still strong, what is the secret behind it?
Being strong at this age requires a lot of discipline. You have to eat right, exercise as often as you can, be at peace with yourself, have enough rest, good sleep, above all be happy always and do the things you can do and leave the rest to God. Stay close to your God and hold fast to your source of strength. Most importantly be prayerful. It is believed that at 70 you have received your “boarding pass” from God ready to depart, depends on how long your flight is delayed. (Laughter)
You are a little older than Nigeria, are you satisfied with the state of the nation today?
I am quite older than Nigeria not a little bit, seven years are no jokes (Laugher). The state of the nation today is a reflection of our 63 years of existence as a nation. Nigeria is a blessed country in all reunification, equally blessed with bad leadership. What we are experiencing today is a cumulative effect of bad leadership since independence. I was asked in an interview I granted few days ago, to assess the present government. My reply was that I will be telling you lies if I say anything about this government. Yes, one hundred days in office is a lot in a life span of any administration, but not enough to see any meaningful change.
You don’t assess a government by mere pronunciations. We have heard it over and over, so let’s give them time to settle, familiarize themselves with the problems at hand, then set a working diagnosis for the next four years in the first instance. I can only wish them well and offer my little suggestions as is expected of any elder-statesman.
The president has a track record of successes as the governor of Lagos state 1999 – 2007. We pray for him, that’s all I can say for now.
Medical professionals are leaving Nigeria every day, what do you think is the best solution to stop this trend?
Brain drain in medical professional is a global challenge, not just in Nigeria. There are both internal and external factors responsible for this, and the government must take a very serious step to curb this. The PUSH and PULL factor must be dealt with in all honesty and sincerity of purpose. The condition of service must improve. Training programs for Medical Doctors are to be scaled up.
The issue of security must be addressed. Abduction and Kidnapping of our Medical Doctors have become too often to understand. Working conditions must improve. Healthcare funding must meet the minimum requirement as stipulated by World Health Organisation (WHO). Our Primary Health Care (PHC) centres have to be upgraded to meet the global best practices.
Equipment must be appropriate in our health care facilities. The states must assist the federal government in mobilizing funds through private sector inclusion in health care delivery. This will reduce the pressure on the government in fund raising drive. Community participation in health care delivery should be encouraged. This will reduce pressure on the healthcare providers. The federal government should be encouraged to promulgate policies that are healthcare friendly. They should also learn to keep their promises. The national assembly should promulgate laws that are healthcare friendly especially in terms of wages, working environment and insurance for healthcare workers. Actually, the list of the expectations from the government is endless. But I will leave the rest for another day.
How would you assess the current administration? Are you satisfied with the way things are going?
Assessing the present administration’s 100 days in office is a joke. You first ask yourself; do you want to do an honest assessment or you want to criticize the government, just looking for a way to give a dog a bad name to hang it. Yes, as they say, the morning tells what the evening will look like. This government has not settled down to start dealing with the past misgovernance of past administration since independence, worse still, the rot of the immediate past regime of ex-president Buhari. I will simply mention a few tools or indices, required to assess a sitting government, even though such tools are better used at the end of the life span of the given administration.
Every government has its promised agenda for its citizenry which are part of the party’s manifesto, more so, the president’s promises to his citizens. The planning and budget office has what we call the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) used by agencies across the federal government to assess program performance and to drive a sustained focus on program results. A key component of the president’s management agenda, PART assessment review overall program effectiveness, from how well a program is designed to how well is it implemented and what results it archive.
PART results are used to improve program management and to ensure the most effective and efficient use of taxpayers money. The governance assessment tool is rooted in a theory of policy implementation that is labelled contextual interaction theory. It views implementation processes not top down, as just the application of policy decisions, but as multi-actor interaction processes that are ultimately driven by the actors involved. In general, before you assess a government and its performance, which is the bone of contention you have to look at the following assessment components as follow;
What assessment methods are you using, the assessment tools and its components, the performance evaluation tool, and lastly what are the modern tools for performance assessment and evaluation.
From the foregoing it is obvious that any assessment you do now is just an effort in fertility. You may wonder why. This is so because this administration has not started any of its promised programs. All we hear is rhethorics as the previous government. Don’t forget that during the campaign period the current President Tinubu promised to continue from where former President ended. We failed to ask whether from the failed promises or from the insecurity or from the economic woes we found ourselves.
Let us know here, that when you start assessing the governance performance from a non-scientific point of view, then you are just paying political lip service or being unfair to the government under review. Let them start their promised programs, then data will be generated, this will give you the basics for comparison, with the previous government and based on the data generated you can make honest, unbiased assessment of the government in question. I hope with these few explanations, I have answered your question.
To add to what I said earlier, there are other performance indicators which are based on data generated. No program has been embarked on by this government. All we hear for now is demolition every where or promises from some of the ministers, who basically do not know the responsibilities attached to their offices.
I listened to the humanitarian minister few weeks on Arise TV, I almost fainted. Asked about her plans for poverty alleviation and how she intends to lift people out of poverty, her answers were tangential to the questions asked. One chance.
In conclusion, I want to pray for the government to fix our economy, and do the right things that will benefit the Nigeria people. There is hope, more so renewed hope. The president is positive but my fear is the other actors he has appointed to help him take us to the next level of prosperity. God bless Nigeria.
