Obasanjo Takes On African Leaders, Ghanaian Doctors

Former Prez Obasanjo

The Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria H.E Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has blamed the continuous underdevelopment of the African Continent on the current generation of political leaderships who have chosen to live lavishly at the expense of the ordinary people.

He said political leaders of the continent spared no time at all in keeping their people disunited and also used that opportunity to misappropriate the little resources entrusted in their care whiles the citizens suffered.

The continent’s people, he said, had over the years seemed to have benefitted only from poverty and monumental debts from their leaders in spite of the abundance of natural resources at their disposal which they could effectively harness or use as palliative measures to advance development.

According to Chief Obasanjo, low standards of education, poor health services, rising inflation and insecurity among others, were some of the general characteristics of underdevelopment of the continent.

Delivering a speech at the maiden edition of the African Leadership Lecture Series and a special graduation ceremony of medical and postgraduate students of the University for Development Studies [UDS] in Tamale where he was Guest Speaker, he acknowledged that Africa had large deposits of gold, diamonds, manganese as well as significant amounts of forest reserves and fertile lands for agricultural purposes, yet majority of its people still went to bed hungry.

Chief Obasanjo who was also conferred with an Honorary Doctorate of Letters [Honorari Causa] by the authorities of the UDS, stressed that resources of the continent if well managed could turn the lives of the people around, noting that, it was however on record that a lot of leaders stole state money and lodged them in overseas accounts.

The 86 year old Diplomat also used the occasion to reprimand Ghanaian medical doctors for embarking on industrial action, describing their posture as completely irresponsible. Adding, he said the doctors had no moral justification for shirking their responsibilities towards their patients because it was morally unethical.

As much as the doctors might be right, he urged them to return to their work because there was judgment day ahead of everyone.

About 48 medical students trained by the UDS School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) were inducted into the Ghana Medical and Dental Council, as they began their two years housemanship program at the Tamale Teaching Hospital and some district hospitals in the Northern Region. Also, 15 graduands were awarded with postgraduate certificates in Mphl, MA and Msc in various academic programmes.

They took the Hippocratic Oath and National Pledge which were respectively administered by the Chairman of the Medical and Dental Council Dr. Eric Asamoa and the President of the Republic of Ghana H.E John Dramani Mahama. 

President Mahama challenged the young doctors to accept to work in rural areas and also urged them to adhere to their professional ethics.

Moreover, he seized the opportunity to thank founding fathers of the UDS particularly former President Jerry John Rawlings for personally making monetary contribution towards the establishment of the university. “I have also been duly informed that plans are underway to honour the former president in this regard”, he disclosed.

Meanwhile, established in 1996, the UDS medical school like other medical schools in the country had been using traditional curriculum to train her students. But there had been a change over to the Problem Based Learning (PBL) methodology since September 2007. 

The rationale for this change over to PBL lies in the mission statement of the University, "A School of Medicine and Health Sciences Situated in Northern Ghana with a unique mandate to prepare health professional and scientists, with the right beliefs and attitudes to work in deprived rural communities, using the Problem Based Learning and the Community-Based Extension Service approaches. A crop, who can, and are apt to adapt to, initiate change and collaborate within interdisciplinary teams to contribute significantly to humane and cost effective healthcare."

The PBL allows for some interactive teaching and moulds a holistic medical student beginning from year one. The programme involves the use of several district hospitals and their consultants/specialists and exposes students as well as takes medical care to the rural communities. 

Thus, the 48 graduands were awarded degrees in Human Biology, Medicine and Surgery (M.B., ch. B). They are expected to get their license to practice as full medical doctors after their two year housemanship.