The Anglican Diocese of Umuahia, Abia State has called on the National Assembly to make medical tourism outside Nigeria an offence under the law.
In his Presidential address at St. Luke’s Anglican Church, Amakama, Olokoro East Archdeaconry in Umuahia South L. G. A, the Bishop of the Diocese, Rt Rev’d Geoffrey Obijuru Ibeabuchi decried the sorry state of medical facilities in Nigeria where the leaders travel abroad for medical treatments, leaving the nation’s medical facilities to lie in comatose.
Bishop Ibeabuchi who also called on the Federal Government to handle its entire workers and labour force with honesty, moral justice and integrity, wondered why incessant strikes have bedeviled the medical sector even in the face of the pandemic ravaging the entire globe with the government turning deaf ears to their genuine demands.
The man of God said, “The most worrisome is the mass exodus of Health workers from our country to countries where their services are appreciated”.
On the COVID-19 and the vaccination exercise currently going on, Bishop Ibeabuchi enjoined the congregation to prayerfully allow themselves to be vaccinated against the deadly virus and also continue to apply all safety protocols as directed by the Presidential Task force and the National Centre for Disease Control.
His words, “In recent years, many people have lost their loved ones including the Church. The impact of COVID-19 has been felt in many families and in the society at large. As a nation we are far from getting over it. When we thought that it was all over the 2nd and 3rd waves which appear to be more devastating emerged from Britain, South Africa, and India among other countries. The truth is that God has been gracious to us as a people and nation and we remain grateful to Him.
“We can only do the work of God when we are alive. One of the major lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic is the poor state of our Healthcare delivery”, he added.
He further stated that at 61, Nigeria remain more divided than ever due to nepotism, tribalism, injustice, disobedience to the rule of law, inequality, oppression, ethnicity, neglect of some ethnic groups, dominance of one class of people above others, unequal distribution of resources, bad governance and government policies, economic mismanagement, wickedness among other vices.
Uche Nwosu is a two time Shell Petroleum PLC award winner in the year 2000;
He won the Shell Award on Investigative Journalism and Environmental Cleanliness.
