The OAU Health Centre, a place meant for both members of staff and students to get proper healthcare services, has over time been complained about. There are always complaints from students as to how they are being treated by the personnel (Doctors and Nurses) at the school health centre. This is becoming an issue of concern because the health centre is supposed to be a place where the well-being of students should be taken seriously but with the experiences recounted by students, it does not appear to be so.
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Recall how students took to the street to express their grief following the death of Adesina Aishat, a final year student of the Department of Foreign Language on the 1st of October, 2021, following the negligence of the health centre staff. Adesina Aishat was reported to be sick and then taken to the health centre for proper treatment but was not adequately attended to. This thereby led to a massive protest by students who blocked the Ife-Ibadan Expressway.
Students Recount Experiences
Hairat Balogun, a student from the Department of Art and Social Science Education, explained that she can ‘never forget’ what she experienced at the health centre on December 25, 2023. She stated that she was not feeling so well on that particular day so she had to go to the health center. On getting to the health centre, the man in charge did not reply to her greeting as he only nodded. She explained to the man that she wanted to see the doctor but the man’s response was ‘I should go and meet the doctor. Then, the doctor will tell me whether he wants to see me. She stated that she walked to the doctor’s office but the doctor responded that the man she met earlier was supposed to bring her file then, he (the doctor) would be able to attend to her.
Hairat further stated that she had to go back to the man. Eventually, the man she had earlier met changed the whole narrative when another individual probed him as to helping Hairat find her file. The man later found her file and he told her to write the number on her file on a piece of paper. She said, ‘I asked him for a pen. He said he did not have one. I had to walk around the health centre’. By the time she got the pen, she was already crying because her whole body was shaking.
After finishing writing, she returned to the man’s place and sat there for about 10 minutes. Later, the man instructed her to go and get gloves. She went to the pharmacy for the second time and managed to get the gloves. Eventually, after about 30 minutes, a nurse came to check her blood pressure before she could see the doctor.
Benedict Omotola, a nursing student, took to this X (formerly Twitter) account to narrate the ‘devastating’ experience he had at the school health centre. He said, ‘At 9:50 pm on that day, I visited the centre to complain of headache and cough hoping to get attended to swiftly so I could get back to my studies’.
He explained that he was the only patient then and there were two workers seated. After writing his name on the list of patients to be attended to, he sat but was told by the male attendant to ‘come back tomorrow to see the doctor’ without any reason given. The second attendant who was a woman asked why he was at the clinic and he explained himself but she still ‘reiterated what her partner said’. The male attendant eventually responded that the doctor had ‘requested for only emergency patients and I should come back tomorrow’.
Benedict told the attendants that he was not going to leave until he saw the doctor. As this was ongoing, 3 other patients came around. Eventually, the female attendant brought out his file and said, ‘Who goes to a general hospital at night to complain of cough and headache’.
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Thereafter, he waited for about 20 minutes during which no attention was given to him. He stated that he was almost prompted to leave and visit the pharmacy for ‘antibiotics and paracetamol’. The three other students were still seated at this point, quiet.
After about 10 minutes, Benedict went to the A&E and he found out that the voice he had been hearing was that of a nurse. He later found out that the doctor was not busy and eventually, he got attended to. He concluded by saying, ‘Dear Great Ife, this is not to blame anyone but just for the record that when it happens due to negligence or being short staffed or lack of facility. It should be known we made a conscious effort to warn. This attitude has been going on for some time now’.
Few weeks ago, I experienced a devastating response from our health care center in OAU. I'd like to share with the generality of Great Ife students, why "Why?" and intellectual arguments are important before submitting to different authorities. pic.twitter.com/pt6zumV8PF
— Benedict B. Omotola (Benmarc) (@BenedictOmotola) April 10, 2024
Ogunlana Success said, ‘Why should just a single doctor be attending to quite several students and members of staff?” A success shared his last experience at the health centre. He stated that he got there around 3:00 pm. He said, ‘I did not leave until around 10:00 pm just because I wanted to check my eye’. Success stated that he was called in alongside others to see the doctor around 6:00 pm. He said, ‘The doctor attended to 2 people and all of a sudden, he stopped and started conversing with his colleagues. We were just hearing laughter’. After about 30 minutes, the files were brought out and names were called randomly. Blood pressures were checked and all of a sudden, the doctor began to attend to people quickly. This made Success wonder ‘So they can be this fast’.
Testimony, a law student, explained the experience she had alongside her friend who was rushed to the health centre. She explained that they were on their way to a class and she found out that her friend could barely catch up. She said, ‘We proceeded but when we got to the Alumni gate, she collapsed holding her chest’. Testimony stated that her friend was quickly rushed to the health centre since it was not far. When they got there, the nurses stated that her friend could not be attended to because she had not done her health centre registration. After some time, her friend was asked to write her name and ‘wait till they attend to everyone before her even though they could see that it was an emergency’.
Ayomide, a 100-level student also showed his disapproval of the health centre. He said, ‘I have had good and bad experiences, the good was about my roommate and the bad was about me’. According to him, on his last visit to the health centre, he was sick and he wasn’t attended to. ‘It was as if that place was built for the aged, I was told that the Doctor would not attend to me at all but to those old people’. He said that when his case was becoming critical, he had to ask his friends to get drugs for him at the Campus Pharmacy, ‘It was just mixed drugs, I bought malaria drug, blood tonic and drugs just to make me stay alive’. He said. He suggested that the old should have their building and the students Should have theirs so that priorities will be given to students as well whenever they come for treatment.
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Yusuf Taiwo, a 100-level student recounts his experience by saying ‘My opinion of Health Center is the way they attend to people which is either they delay you or they give you drugs which are not complete. But most times they always do delay and after the delay, you might end up not being attended to which endangers people’s lives if it were to be a serious ailments’.
Esther stated that she was disappointed in the negligence of the workers of the health centre towards attending to patients. ‘I understand that there are lots of patients to attend to, but since each patient comes with their report, the nurses should attend to critical conditions first. And not, creating queues of patients unnecessarily’.
‘At the time, I had an ulcer attack. Even after reporting my condition to the nurses there, I was still made to sit with others who were waiting. I was in so much pain. My condition increased before leaving the clinic and for a whole week, I couldn’t go to class. I feel it is not fair. We waited for hours before we were attended to, especially me’, she said.
Precious in her words said that her experience at the health centre was not nice. ‘The day I went to the health centre I waited for more than 1 hour before I was allowed to see the doctor and get drugs, the workers there are too sluggish, they don’t care whether you are in pain, they would just sit down and gossip, they would attend to you when they feel like it’. She said that this reoccurred the second time she visited the place.
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Peace, with a slight opinion, said that the situation at the health centre is fair to some extent. He stated that the first he would visit the health centre was when one of his friends collapsed. ‘We got to the health centre and we were asked to sit down. We sat down for like 15-20 minutes with no one attending to us but after that, they casually attended to us. I hope they work on that’.
Mercy, while recounting her experience at the health centre, said, ‘The workers in the health centre are negligent. My experience with them was sour, I was rushed to the health centre one day, I was so weak and I was attended to after three good hours. It took the workers at the Pharmacy an eternity to attend to me, I was so angry. These people won’t attend to you quickly unless it is an emergency neglecting the fact that a little issue can escalate’. She said that she had been going in and out of the health centre since last year just to complete her registration due to various reasons, part of which was what she classified as a lack of power supply, the workers claiming they were closed even when it is not the scheduled time, late openings etc. ‘The health workers should gear up because good health care is vital for every human being. They should be quick to respond to patients and most importantly stop giving patients attitudes’, she said.
Phebean Akinola, a 500-level Law student recounts her experience at the health centre, she stated that she had to wait for 3 hours before she was attended to. She recounts a bitter experience of how her card was not called on time. She discovered that she had recurring tonsillitis. She saw displeasure as to Her major concern was ‘why Nigerians don’t respond to each other with care’, she said.
Health Center CMD Explains
The Chief Medical Director of the health centre, Dr Tirimisiyu Olatunji, stated that the Public Relations Officer of the university is in the best position to respond. He is to speak only when asked.
Nonetheless, he explained some things. He stated that there has been a mutual relationship with students because ‘The Students’ Union is part of the health centre management’. He explained that the Welfare Director, Folakan Paul of the Students’ Union is always keeping in touch with him. He referred to the welfare director as the Liaison Officer between the students and the health centre management.
Dr. Tirimisiyu further stated that one major issue is the lack of enough staff. In the past, before 2020, there were about 18/19 doctors, but now there are only 8 doctors. Also, in the past, the health centre had about 50 nurses, but now there are less than 20 nurses.
He stated that more doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory technologists, and so on are needed. The health centre is short-staffed mainly because of the ‘Japa Syndrome’. ‘My staff are working back to back now’, he said. He concluded by saying he believes things are getting better.
The Director believes that there is a good rapport between the health centre management and the students because the students are now being represented in the health centre’s affairs.
Although the Doctor told the correspondents to reach out to the Welfare Director for more information, the Welfare Director, Folakan Paul, was not forthcoming with a response as he stated that he had nothing to explain to ACJOAU.
The Dean of the Division of Student Affairs Explain
The Dean of the Division of Student Affairs, Professor John Odedire, in an interview with ACJ correspondents explained that the health centre operates as a secondary health provider. They run clinics apart from receiving normal complaints from students.
On the issue of old people being given more priority at the health centre, he explained that those old people being referred to ‘are large if not entirely all retirees of the university’. The health centre runs specialized clinics for some kinds of illnesses. Some days are always set aside for those clinics, but that does not mean that average patients are not being attended to.
Professor Odedire proceeded further by saying, ‘What I have seen about your colleagues is that they love to make noise a lot’. He explained that some people want to get to the health centre and get attended to in under 5 minutes. He stated that sometimes, these people might not have even completed their health centre registrations.
The Dean also commented on the health centre being short-staffed. He said, ‘More than 60% of the medical healthcare givers have relocated.” This is taking a toll on the members of the staff who are trying to hold the fort. He further stated that the issue of employment is not something that can be done spontaneously. It has to be authorized by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). This is also affecting other areas of the university. ‘For employment to take place, you must get approval and permission from appropriate quarters’, he said.
He further explained that the university is trying all within its power to see that the system works, but cooperation from all ends is required. He said, ‘Not being attended to on time at the health centre is not deliberate’.
Professor Odedire stated that to cushion the effects of the tension in the health centre, Corpers who are in the health line are being encouraged to assist in their capacity at the health centre. He said, ‘You must also be cautious. Approach matters’. He stated that sometimes students see everything as their right.
On the issue of the availability of drugs at the campus pharmacy, the Dean stated that the health centre has been trying its best. Everything depends on money. The availability of drugs is based on how much the university can spend based on the money available. He stated that although students collect their drugs for free, they are being paid for. He explained that sometimes, the health centre management, after running out of drugs, may not be able to mobilize the pharmaceutical supplier on time.
The university gives more attention to students. The members of staff always have to contribute 10% of the value of the drugs monthly. Whereas for students, the medications come for free. He stated that sometimes students collect drugs that they would not use.
He also referred to the 8-month strike as something that affected all aspects of the university, including the health centre. He concluded by saying that “things are already getting better now.”