VIOLENCE AT HOME

A few times, even though I’m not a relationship expert, I’ve had course to write some articles, mostly with my sister (she’s the one into all that relationship stuff). You can check them out here, here and here. I think I know a bit of what I and most people want in relationships and what we do not. Some are just in between, since no one is ‘perfect’. So, with this intro, I’d really love your thoughts on this conversation I had with a young lady in my consulting room.

• Me: Hello, good afternoon, how are you doing?
• Lady (Ly): I’m fine doctor, thank you
• Me: So how may I help you today?
• Ly: I want to carry out some tests, no I want an x-ray done.
• Me: Okay, why do you want an x-ray and for what part of your body?
• Ly: I just want x-ray of my back and chest.
• Me: Alright, but you haven’t told me why yet. Did you fall down?
• Ly: Okay, okay, my boyfriend beat me up and I don’t have any pains or anything, I just want him to spend his money.

My jaw dropped. I didn’t quite understand her reasons, but it was nothing new to me. Countless times, I have seen women assaulted by their spouses show up in the ER with black eye, some severely injured and they still protect and defend the actions of their abusers and I can’t just wrap my head around it. Even though I haven’t seen one, I have heard of cases where men beat their partners to dead. I keep wondering why these women keep staying. Could it be desperation, financial security or what?

Please anyone, I need to know

ONDO STRANGE ILLNESS: MEDICAL OR SPIRITUAL?

Last week, I heard a news that the Ebola virus was back in Nigeria. You can't begin to imagine the amount of fear that went through me. Instead of panicking and spreading the news though, (I'm pretty sure it would have brought some traffic to my blog), I decided to investigate further. I swear I should have been a detective. Lol. Anyway, I  found out that there was indeed a strange disease in town (restricted to one town in Ondo State) and it was killing people, 18 so far. This disease is so deadly because it kills its victims within 24 hours of infection.

It's symptoms include headache, blindness, paralysis and death - all within 24 hours. Wow! It was confirmed that it wasn't ebola as initially suspected, ebola has a longer incubation period, is associated with fever, flu-like symptoms, hemorrhages and death. Problem now is, no one knows what is causing the disease. Trust naija though, I started getting bbm messages to spread the news so no one goes to Ondo state. 

Further investigation has shown that the disease wasn't caused by any organism, not bacterial, viral, fungal or even a parasite. They are suspecting that it is methanol poisoning from locally made gin. 

However, there is another twist to the story, the ruler of the community came out to say that the deaths was brought about by an angry god. According to him, the people who died are a group of youths who desecrated the shrine of the god and stole some artefacts.

So, right now, it is "wait and see" for the people of Ondo state and Nigeria. But whatever it is, I hope it ends and doesn't spread further. What do you think of this situation though. Hit me up with your thoughts in the comment box.

SAY NO TO XENOPHOBIA

What?! What is all the rubbish that I hear? My ears must be deceiving me, though it has never once failed me. South Africans, what did we do to you? Why the racism against your very own brothers and sisters? This news indeed is very sad. It is heart breaking. What wrong could they have done by seeking asylum in your country? Is this xenophobia or hate for the black race, I wonder?

South Africa bleeds

The map looks crooked? Maybe that is what will become of Africa if we continue like this. We speak of being one great African nation. is that even a realistic dream? Is it possible? Citizens of SA, if your fellow South Africans were treated this way in other countries, how would you feel? Do you think that there are no South Africans in other parts of the world? There are, and they enjoy every freedom. By the way what is xenophobia? For those who don’t know;

“Xenophobia is the intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries”.

Last year I wrote this post when Nigerians were being attacked in India. I asked a few questions, stated some facts. Those facts still hold today. I blame the Nigerians for always fleeing from their country. No, I don’t blame them. Instead, I blame the Nigerian government who has made life difficult for its average citizens. They have to seek for greener pastures outside the country. These same government that has refused to implement stringent immigration rules like other countries. Hmm… I may not blame them so much, for even when life was a bit bearable, Nigerians always found their way out of the country.

Who should I blame then? Yes, I know. I’ll blame you and me, not for moving around and relocating (that’s part of human life), but for being unaccommodating. Everybody wants to lock up their borders (with good reasons too). However, we need peace. It is the only way forward.

But wait oh, is it not these same South Africans that were oppressed for so many years by the white men in the name of colonialism? I don’t see them asking the white folks to leave their country (kindly or otherwise) – no offense. Finally, maybe this is just transferred aggression.

Say no to Xenophobia, speak out loud against it. Everyone is a foreigner somewhere.

Peace.

HEALTH INSURANCE WAHALA

I have to warn you, this is a very lengthy post. There was no way to get around it.

Something happened in the hospital last week and I'll like to share my thoughts on it. It’s about the health insurance scheme; however, before I go on to spill my guts, I’d like to share with you some facts about NHIS in Nigeria at least. Also, for the purpose of this post, I’ll stick with the patients on capitation; they are the ones mostly with the issues

A BRIEF HISTORY OF HOW IT WORKS

The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was started as a means to provide health care at affordable cost for all. It is meant to help many underdeveloped and developing countries to meet the goals of primary health care and now the millennium development goals (MDGs). In the United Kingdom, it is referred to as the National Health Service (NHS). A brief run-down of how it's practiced here in Nigeria to help you better understand the events that unfolded last week.

• First, the overall governing body, NHIS can't do it alone. They encourage individuals and corporate bodies to set up health management organizations (HMOs) to help recruit clients.

• The HMOs solicit for clients and gets them to register under different groups depending on the capability of the client (as per their monthly income). The clients are called enrollees and they are entitled to have a spouse and 4 children under them.

• Some of the clients register under NHIS using the HMOs, while other register directly under NHIS. These are the ones that a capitation is paid for. The capitation in Nigeria is N750 per head per month. That's about $4 for health each month. (It's better now, used to be N500 - almost $3). This amount is paid to the hospital every month whether or not the enrollees show up for treatment.

• There are other clients who prefer to register as private patients under the HMOs and their treatment is paid for only when they or their beneficiaries come for treatment. This is called "fee for service".

• The NHIS also has a drug list, so you are limited to prescribing those drugs to the patient (and they are not necessarily the best in the market or that which you would prefer to prescribe). For example, the drug in the NHIS essential drug list for the treatment of malaria is Chloroquine, which is very obsolete. The current drugs are the ACTs (Artemisinin combination therapy).

• Depending on your (the patient's) designation, mostly those on capitation, you may be limited to the extent of care the HMO can cover for.

On the part of the NHIS and the HMOs, they use the drug list to checkmate fraudulent activities of some doctors who may want to prescribe unnecessary investigations and branded drugs when it’s not recommended. Secondly, the N750 paid per head is paid under the assumption that not everyone will show up every month, and so the money for the people who didn't show up will cover for those that did and leave the hospital some change as profit.

Now, most hospitals are in the business to make a profit (even though the world thinks it should be a charity organization), they have to make the patient feel cared for while following the NHIS guidelines. Many decided that only certain necessary investigations and drugs could be prescribed for the patients. If they had more problems, they could be referred to the consultants or an approval code gotten for them.

On the other hand, the patients feel that a lot of money is being collected from their salary every month and that they have to make use of it somehow. So, you have some of these patients come to the hospital when there is absolutely nothing wrong with them so they can collect medicines. I’ve seen parents show up with 3 children jumping about the waiting room and throwing back-dives, and when asked what the problem is, the children usually answered “nothing” innocently, while the parents hush them and say all of them have cough and catarrh and they have to be treated for malaria. Problem is, they aren't told the actual amount pay per head per month.

*Yawn!*

Now away with all the boring information and to the events that took place last week. I saw a pregnant lady who was very ill requiring admission, but she didn’t want to stay because she had a toddler at home with no one to cater for him. I was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea on this one, I couldn’t go all out and do all that was necessary for her, (an admission would have covered that, but she declined). I couldn’t render half treatment either. To refer her wouldn’t have made much sense either since it was a primary case. So, I chose to stand in the middle, trying to give the patients my best, but also trying my best not to break the rules in doing so. I used the approval code for her. My decision to stand in the middle almost didn’t pay off, infact it almost got me into trouble with the hospital management. However, after much explanations, it was sorted out.

The conclusion I came to was that "managed care is not meant to manage (treat) the patient, it was made to manage their money". If all this mumbo – jumbo I just wrote didn’t make any sense to you, I recommend you watch the movie John Q.

In the meantime, what does you think of health insurance policies?

LETTER TO NDIGBO

I would like to state a few things before I go on to write about what I have in mind. That;

1. I believe in ONE NIGERIA
2. This post is nothing meant to incite any negative reactions
3. It is definitely not political

Yesterday night, as I browsed through facebook, I noticed some snide comments by my friends. Further investigations revealed that the Oba of Lagos had threatened the Igbos residents in Lagos. It was a political thing, something about the forth coming gubernatorial elections. Looks like the Igbos want to vote for the PDP candidate, while the Oba wants the APC candidate. So, the Oba told the Igbos that if they vote for the PDP candidate, he’ll make sure they drown in water and they wouldn’t prosper in Lagos anymore. Later on, I heard that another guy, a movie producer had blamed the Igbos for piracy. Now I knew why my Igbo friends were aggrieved.

To respond to their grief and reactions, I have this to say; I am not a tribalistic person, maybe because I didn’t grow up in the east. But for those Igbos who crave for BIAFRA – the one Igbo country – please answer this question; “What are you doing in Lagos and many other parts of Nigeria including the north?” You! who would rather kill a Hausa or Yoruba man than a snake if given the opportunity. (The reason GEJ won in the south east, because you’d rather vote for sentiment than vote an Hausa man). I ask again, WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUTSIDE YOUR FATHERLAND? After the war, why didn’t you stay back and build the east. You moved back to Lagos, Kano, Kaduna and Abuja, developing their land and leaving yours bare. How many big cities can you name in the east right now? Please don’t say Port –Harcourt, because they say they aren’t Igbos, they are Ikwerre. The next you have is Enugu. Onitsha and Aba are commercial cities and if you’ve been to Aba in the last year, you’d know that it’s almost inhabitable.

Igbos: the work force of many thriving communities. Often, it is said that if you go to a community and you can’t find an Igbo man there, pack your load and run. The Igbos are known to chase after money wherever it is hidden and the it out, while the Yorubas go after the knowledge in books, leaving the Hausas with politics I guess. Using this analogy, can anybody say that they are surprised by the response of the Eze ndigbo to the Oba? …… still waiting, can someone please tell me?

Now over to Kunle Afolayan, the movie producer, sorry never heard of him till today, probably because I don’t bother with names of producers when I watch a movie. Anyhow, he apologized for what he said, but Ndigbo, did Nollywood not start with you? I remember watching ‘Things fall apart’, ‘Akaraka’ and the movie that actually birthed what we now call home videos – ‘Living in bondage’. >90% of the cast and crew were Igbos. I ask, if Nollywood was started in Igbo land, wouldn’t it thrive and why not? The Igbos with the money, move to Lagos and Abuja to invest, then pull out more youths from the east in search for greener pastures and yet you are complaining about not getting your share of the national cake.

Igbos, your problem is simple – GREED – the need to amass more wealth than you can imagine. Tell me in which part of the country is fuel sold at >N100 while others are selling at N87? Have you seen an Igbo man travelling back to the east for Christmas? They carry everything they need from Lagos, Benin, Abuja e.t.c irrespective of the cost of transporting it because no matter how much is spent on transportation, you can’t compare it to the price you’ll have to pay for buying it in the east and yet they cite cost of transportation as the reason for the ridiculously high prices.

So Ndigbo, unless you can leave or liquidate all your properties in Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt, Kano, Kaduna e.t.c and move back to your fatherland and develop it, Please stop making noise about been insulted and definitely not about biafra. As for me, I am a proud Nigerian.

Dalu nu.

NIGERIA HAS DECIDED

Finally! The collation of the much awaited and anticipated results of the presidential elections of Nigeria 2015 is over and we have a winner in the person of General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB), despite many troubles caused by both parties. Nigerians and the world can breathe at last. In my experience, this is one election in Nigeria that got almost everyone involved. Many friends fought verbally on facebook and twitter, unfriending themselves and so on, even family members were opposing themselves. People were glued to their radio and television sets with their pen and paper, writing out the results as it is being announced, myself included. (We didn’t need any foul play at all!)

Prior to the elections, I had no idea that to win, a candidate was required to have 25% of the votes in 2/3rds of all the states. Let’s take a look at the results for each of the state. This is for the benefit of mostly the Non-Nigerians, Nigerians in diaspora and the very few Nigerians too busy to get in contact with a radio or TV. 

*Please these results are strictly for APC (General Muhammadu Buhari – GMB) and PDP (Goodluck Ebele Jonathan – GEJ). For the results of other political parties, kindly visit a news blog or online newspaper or INEC website. Thank you.

State                              APC                             PDP

Abia                                   13394                             368303

Adamawa                         374701                           251664 

Akwa Ibom                       58411                              953304

Anambra                            17926                             660762

Bauchi                             931598                            86085

Bayelsa                              5194                               361209

Benue                                373961                             303737

Borno                               473543                              25640 

Crossriver                         28368                               414863

Delta                                    48910                              1211405

Ebonyi                                19518                               323653

Edo                                     208469                               286869

Ekiti                                    120331                              176466

Enugu                                 14157                                553003

FCT                                    146399                                157195

Gombe                              361245                                  96873

Imo                                    133253                               559185

Jigawa                                885988                               142904

Kaduna                              1127760                              484085

Kano                                  1903999                                215779

Katsina                               1345441                                  98937

Kebbi                                   567883                                 100972

Kogi                                       264851                                149987

Kwara                                  302146                                  132602

Lagos                                   792460                                  632327

Nasarawa                              236838                                 273460

Niger                                     657678                                   149222

Ogun                                      308290                                 207950

Ondo                                      299889                                   251368

Osun                                      383603                                   249929

Oyo                                         528620                                   303376

Plateau                                  429140                                    549615

Rivers                                      69238                                   1487075

Sokoto                                      671926                                   152199

Taraba                                    261326                                    310800

Yobe                                           446265                                     25526

Zamfara                                  612202                                     144833

TOTAL:                                     15424921                               12853162

The interpretation: PDP got 25% of the votes in 25 states and APC got 25% in 27 states. However, GMB had more votes than GEJ with a difference of almost 2.6 million, hence making him the winner of the 2015 presidential elections and president elect of Nigeria.

Permit me to analyze the entire campaign and electoral process till date, In my opinion, GEJ shot himself in the face. While the APC campaigned with manifesto of what they intend to do if they are elected, PDP campaigned with things they thought they have achieved. For example, you can’t come out and tell me that you have improved power by 4000megawatts or so and I don’t see light for up to 7 hours in a week. He also campaigned against APC with GMB’s past, throwing more light on GMB, portraying him as a formidable contender. The Final blow was becoming so desperate it pissed off many of his supporters. The areas that I think GEJ failed are in fighting corruption, providing power and security. I have to pay my respects to 2 important people that made this election a success;

• Firstly to Prof. Attahiru Jega for the best elections held in the history of Nigeria. Thank you, Sir, for a job well done.

• Also, kudos to you Sir, GEJ, the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for conceding defeat honorably to forestall any unnecessary violence.

My elder said something that I think we should take away from these elections, “never give up”. GMB has refused to give up since 2003 and now he has made as the president of Nigeria. Congrats to GMB! Long live Nigeria! Let’s wait for the next four years. If we get an unsatisfactory result sheet from GMB, then we also vote him out.

Salut!

WHAT MAKES YOU LOOK AND FEEL SEXY?

Hey everyone,

Enough of all the sad real life issues, it's time for some fun stuff. Ladies, this is one of those posts you get to sit down, relax and read. Guys, you can join in too and air your views. You are the ones we try so hard to look sexy for most times, no? So, quick question, "what makes you feel sexy?"

There is this perception by ladies that the more skin we expose, the sexier we appear. So it's more boobs, more legs, no sleeves at all, plunging necklines e.t.c. To many other folks, it's about the "assets", the bigger the boobs, the bum or the hips, the better. This is the reason I believe, we have ladies developing low self esteem over issues that shouldn't arise and running to plastic surgeons (qualified and unqualified) for implants. 

Recently, for some reason, what seems to appeal to many, including the guys, is an independent lady. Someone who knows what she's about.. someone who knows her onions. She has to look and be smart at the same time. Gone are the medieval times when all that mattered about women were their looks.

I believe that a sexy woman should be smart and hot. She is one that can joggle her job/career, family, housework e.t.c. at the same time without breaking out a sweat. Wouldn’t that be nice? Anyway, sweat or not, be sexy is very important to both a men and women. Whether you are a career lady or a housewife, undergraduate or graduate, employed or unemployed, it is essential to have something that makes you uniquely you and that is sexy.

As to what to wear to make you look sexy, well, like I said, scanty, undersized clothes doesn’t make anyone look sexy. It makes you look trashy. If you don’t believe me, picture a guy in jumpey trousers with the waist so small it doesn’t button up properly, a shirt so small, the sleeves are short of the wrist, asking you out on a date. What would your response be? Better still, maybe he has cut-outs on some strategic (not so pleasant) areas on his clothes. What would you think of him. Please, disregard whatever it is you see on music videos, movies and some red carpet events. I am almost certain that majority of these people don’t go out dressed the same way. So, do not end up appearing desperate for attention in the name of looking sexy.

A sexy woman should be whatever she wants to be, but unfortunately, she shouldn’t wear whatever the hell she wants to wear. Many of us feel sexy in many different ways. Have you ever woken up so happy, feeling sexy with a skip to your step, feeling like you can do anything? It may have just been the perfume you were wearing, or a set of matching lingerie, a beautiful nightie you slept in e.t.c. do you thing? I love to hear from you, let me know what makes you feel sexy. I feel sexy when I’m on heels. It makes me feel like the world is my runway and I can accomplish anything.

Finally, cleanliness is next to sexiness. You simply can't be dirty, disorganised and sexy. It just doesn't combine well. Hope you enjoyed reading this, let me know what you think.

Cheers......

PENNY WISE, POUND FOOLISH

So many times, we have either heard of, or used the popular idiom; "penny wise, pound foolish". We have also heard of, and used this one too - "a stitch in time, saves nine". They mean basically the same thing - do the right thing now and avoid future complications. So much goes on in our daily living, and also in the hospital (where I spend most of my time), requiring us to constantly make decisions. Sometimes, we make the right ones, sometimes, we make the wrong ones. Other times, we just make the foolish ones.

A day doesn't go by, that I don't see at least 10 patients (especially in the pediatrics clinic) who have been to the patent medicine dealers, or some other form of healer for health counsel before showing up at the hospital for the doctors' advice. On many occasions, it is too late for the advice they seek.

Let me give you a typical example of some of the experiences I've had. A woman calls up a doctor she knows. She had gotten the number on a day her child was very sick, and she was scared and desperate. She didn't want to go home and be stranded should something that she couldn't handle come up during the course of treatment. 2 months later, the child develops a fever. She calls up the doctor and narrates the present condition of the child. The doctor politely tells her that she was not in town at the moment , but that she should take the child to the nearest hospital for early diagnosis and treatment. Guess what? She replies 'okay' then takes the child to a chemist, where some medications including the injectable forms were adminster to the child by the attending personnel. She didn't know the name of the medications.

2 days goes by, and she calls the doctor again to complain that the fever was not abating and that the child was now vomiting. One simple question by the doctor gave her up. She was asked "madam what did the doctor at the hospital tell you was wrong with your child?" She confessed that she had actually gone to the chemist and not the hospital. She was adviced to make sure she goes immediately to the hospital for expert care. She agreed to do so. Another call the next day revealed that she had opted for a maternity instead and was still there as at the time she was making the call. The nurse did a PCV test and gave more injections. The poor child was still burning up.

After much talk by the doctor. She presented at the hospital without much funds required to treat the child. She had used whatever little she had to undergo sub-standard treatment at  the other places she had been to. A donation had to be done among staf and other patient relatives present to save the child's life. This is a good example compared to others that are brought in gasping or already dead.

I began to ponder at the possible causes of such a behaviour among people and I have come up with these few reasons.

• Ignorance: a lot of people simply do not have the information they require to make sound decisions. Many causes and outcome of diseases are still based on spiritual beliefs and hearsay. The problem with hearsay is that the information been shared is never accurate.  It is usually reported from the person's own perspective after adding sugar and spice and the tale spins on. A typical example is when a patient tells you that they have had antimalarials, then you ask for the specific one and they reply amoxyl.
• Spirituality and beliefs : Nigeria is a country in which many people including myself belief that there are principalities and powers. However, turning to a spiritual healer everytime there is a minor health disturbance and labelling it "an attack" may not be very helpful. Imagine a child has malaria and develops a distended abdomen because of the enlargement of the liver and spleen and instead of coming to the hospital,  the child is taken to one "baba" who cuts the abdomen into different designs in the name of letting out the "bad blood" that is causing the distension. They usually applied herbs mixed with dirt to the wound, so that by the time I'm seeing  such a child, I'm no longer treating just malaria but sepsis too. The annoying part, the parents usually want you to perform a miracle.
• Wrong advice from friends and family members: charity, they say begins at home, well, so does learning and trust. We tend to believe and trust people we've known over a period of time than a doctor (with all his knowledge) that we just met. It is a normal reaction than doesn't yield the best result sometimes. A grandmother who tells you to put pepper and oil into the eyes of a8a convulsing child, is telling you what she knows/thinks and with love but it might just help to blind the child.
• Poverty: I believe this is another very important factor that is easy to explain. If you don't have a dime, and you don't a good lending record, then you can't get the proper help most times. Simply because the hospital will ask for money first. They have learnt to do so because of the bad experiences they've had. 

My recommendation, poverty alleviation and public enlightenment. Never easy jobs to take on. So my advice, seek the best when looking for solutions to any problem you might have.

Cheers.....

WHY DO WOMEN CHANGE AFTER MARRIAGE?

A very long time ago, women married at the age of 15 and 16, and anyone above 20 years of age was seen as already too old to bear children and "on the shelf". These same women, if unlucky in their marriages, either stood on the sidelines and bore the pains of a bad marriage or they opted out of the marriage by committing suicide at the risk of been buried in unconsecrated ground. As the decades rolled by, and the female folks were allowed into the school rooms, the new ideal age for getting married moved to 25 years. I remember how I used to get worried about aunts who did not get hooked by age 25. Today, we have women empowerment and feminism and the new age target for getting married is 30 years and some even say above. Also, these new age women mostly have a source of income, so they can easily say to a potential husband, "be gone, I do not need you, I can take care of myself" over very trivial matters. These days, you would hardly find girls who are thinking of marriage at 20 years and if the thought does cross their minds, they have handy friends to dislodge such a "crazy" notion immediately. These friends, I guess always mean well even when their excuse for you not to get married is "we never rock life finish".

Enough of all my rantings, and on to the reason for today's post. I noticed the high rate of divorce and separations in marriages, and truthfully, it is alarming. It begs for answers to the question, "how did our parents do it?" Many of our parents have been married for over 25 - 40 years. I do not think I've ever heard my mother tell my dad that she could cater for her own needs, or rub in her family background or education. Somehow, they are able to resolve their issues amicably. It then brings me to these questions;

• Did our parents not bring us up as well as their parents did them?
• Did we just refuse to pay attention to their words of advice?
• Are we too concerned with the butterflies in our stomach and "fireworks and sparks" in the name of love, than the real issues? 
• Is it a modern generation thing? 
• Is it because women now have jobs outside the home? 
• Did You Get Why Married (The Reasons)?

Guess what? It does not matter what the answers to these questions are, because when a marriage is broken, it is automatically the fault of the woman (whether we like it or not). It's either she works too much, does not take care of the home, disrespects her husband, she is now fat and the list is endless. Bottomline, she has changed. She was not that way when he married her. Amazing! I often wonder if the man did not change. Something very important from my research, is that many young ladies enter into marriage with unrealistic ideas. The worst of these ideas is the "I can change him" syndrome. I actually believe that this is a possible mission, but only for the lucky 1%. Adults (men and women alike) who are usually set in their ways done change unless they consciously decide to or there is a divine invention. So ladies, if you think you can change him, think again.

Another thing is certain, most men are chauvinistic by nature and want to be on top everytime (right or wrong). By this, I have concluded that men do run the world, (don't pay any to mind that Beyoncé's song), but we color the world. I have come to realize that, even though I may not want to accept it wholeheartedly. One quick example, George Clooney remained a veritable bachelor till last year when he got married at 53 years (If you do not count his 1st marriage). He could afford to bet that he would not have kids till a certain age. This did not stop him from dating (and now marrying) hot women.Women on the other hand, would start counting how long we have till our reproductive life is over. We just do not have the luxury.

Now to the reason why I say women change after marriage, these are just a few observations I've made concerning women and marriage. 

• We act all nice and lovely while planning to show our true colors once we have been married. It's no wonder the male folks say 'she was not like that when we were dating'. If you can not be your true self when you are with someone, why would you want to marry that person? Why try so hard to please him when you are dying to explode inside? It's no use. So, My First Rule To A Successful Marriage Is BE YOURSELF.

• If he slaps you once a month before you marry him, be sure to start getting a daily dose once you are married. Like I said, men do not change after marriage. However, I think it should be the other way round. Men do change after marriage, majority of them for the worst. I do not know why, but I guess they also feel it's time to do whatever they want since you can almost not threaten them with a breakup. So secondly, if you know you can not tolerate a habit or behaviour when you are dating, why do you think you can live with it for the rest of your life? Do not marry a man for the wrong reason. Screen and separate the seed from the chaff before making the decision of who to marry. CHOOSE WISELY.

• Many women are hot before they get married, then they get married and start tying wrapper at home. I mean, did he ask you out when you were shabby looking? We think we are now married, no need to dress up. I tell you solemnly, men are like babies, if you fail to keep his attention on you then he would focus it elsewhere. LOOK ALWAYS HOT !!! ...

• My mother always says the way to a man's heart is through his belly. Well anatomical, that does not pan out, but there is some logic in it. Men love great meals. I think it's ancestral or something. COOK TASTY MEALS.

• I listened to a song once and the singer (a man) wanted a woman who could be a lady by day and a freak by night. I laughed but it is the really we live in. A man wants a woman who can be his mother, sister, friend, wife and baby. Ladies if you would allow yourselves think about it, we too want a man who can be our daddy, brother, bestfriend, husband and child. It's just the way the world goes. BE PREPARED.

• Why do we complain about working and doing all the house chores while he watches TV while sipping a cold beer? Find a way around it. Do not nag, do not criticize, ask for help. Find ways to involve him in some of the homework. Explain how tired you are at the end of each day. If you must criticize, then there is a formula to that - The SANDWICH. Place the criticism between 2 positive statements; Like honey, I know how hard you work to provide for me and you must be tired, but if you could just keep me company in the kitchen, help me maybe dry the plates, I'd be very happy, I miss being with you all day. BE CREATIVE

• Now to the breaker of many homes - SEX. I know some men are what we call dogs, (no offense). They chase everything that looks like a woman. Sometimes though, it is our faults. Men are sexual creatures, so they can wake up at 2am and want to go. Women on the other hand are romantics. We want him to understand what we are not saying because we expect him to read our body language. Well, I think we better start talking and stop signaling. I know how tiring it can be to wake up way early to meet up with morning preparations, especially if you have children who need to be fed and be at school early enough. Yourself, who is a working mother and you have to come home and continue the process till midnight everyday. Sex would be the last thing on you mind (that's if it's even there). Despite these mirade of issues, try not to deprive your man of sex or he will look for a place to get it and it would only hurt you in the end. EMBRACE YOUR SEXUALITY

• We are human beings and we are bound to disagree on issues but I have learnt that even though the violent taketh it by force, silence is golden. It is best sometimes silent and to avoid any words that could be impossible to take back once said. Also, sorry never hurt anyone. Learn to use these very important words.  SILENCE AND SORRY

• Friends can be good, but they can also be destructive. Friends have been some known to be the destruction of many marriages, their tactics range from giving you bad advice to outrightly stealing your husband right from under your nose. Mind the kind of people you invite into your home. And on no account should you allow a 3rd party into your marriage. CHOOSE YOUR FRIENDS WITH CARE.

• Lastly, not everyone is happy that somehow, in this difficult world of 7 billion people you were able to locate your missing rib. BE PRAYERFUL.

Women! We are extraordinary creatures, we may not run the world, but we make it go round and we sure do color it. Happy women's day

Cheers ....

THE CURE IS IN YOUR HANDS

When I was in clinical medical school, there was one thing I was sure of doing whenever I went home for the brief holidays. It was the simple task of checking my grandma's blood pressure, then of course, that of every person in the house, (whether they needed it or not). Grandma was hypertensive and some reason, my mum always told me to tell her that all was well with her no matter what recording I got. When I asked why? She'd simply reply; that's what the family's doctor does. His explanation for not telling her the truth picture of her ailment was that it would scare her, or cause her more anxiety and as such elevate the blood pressure to an even higher and more dangerous level. To me at that time, it was a perfect reason and a wonderful practice. I pocketed it as one of the lessons learned on my way to becoming a great doctor. Nobody wants to be mediocre!

As I progressed in the medical field and started to practice, I saw that this was a practice by many people. A man is sick, on admission with cancer or whatever terminal illness you can think of and the family says; "don't tell him, he'll die faster". Another person has diabetes or hypertension (high blood pressure) and the same story goes. I began to wonder how the relatives can manage them without them (the patient) realizing that he is sick. Is it possible to give a person drugs or change the diet without him asking why? Well, unless that person is unconscious.

Overtime, I discovered that there was a high percentage of patients who weren't adherent to their treatment plans. Whether it was medications or a change in diet or even exercise. They come back every clinic day with the same problems, the blood pressure or blood sugar is going higher no matter how many drugs these patients are on. For example, you see them today, give then 2 drugs and give a 1 month appointment. They show up with elevated BP, you add another drug and another and another until you can add no more. Lol. The simple thing that has happened is that you prescribe drugs, they leave your consulting room (sometimes dissatisfied with services rendered), hiss and dump your prescription till the next clinic day. In a place like the one I work, you can come 4 times and meet 4 different doctors. Sometimes, they hope to me a different doctor and hope for a different approach.

My choice to go for a residency training in family medicine is one that I won't regret anytime soon. In family medicine, we are thought to look at the patient's illness from the patient's point of view, then treat using medical knowledge. We realized that a patient is a human being just like anyone of us and would desire to be treated as such. If you are a medical doctor and your are reading this, ask yourself this simple questions;

• How would you like to me treated if you fall ill?
• If it was any of your friends or relatives on the sick bed, what would your reaction be?

We are thought to look at the patient and his illness in the context of his family and vice versa. We do not forget that the patient has religious beliefs especially in a place like Nigeria. We learn how to communicate with people, counsel them and break bad news. The act of managing a "difficult" patient is not something you can do without. With all these said, we have one problem. It is a problem that plagues every doctor and infact the health sector. It is TIME! Patients are maybe the only group of people who have been wrongly titled. Have you ever heard the phrase, "patients are not patient?" so true. They are in the waiting area, ranting that the doctor is taking up so much time with one patient, then they go in and refuse to come out and the cycle goes on. Lol. The doctor tries to compensate and then misses out on the need to adequately counsel the patient and just prescribes drugs, hoping to get a better chance by the next visit, and..... then we are back to the scenario painted earlier.

The moment I realized this defect, I decided it was time to refresh some of the things I'd learned over the years. In my mind, it was time to empower these people with the simple truth they deserved. Why hide information and continue to mismanage a patient? To tell you the truth, contrary to what had been in practice, these people want to know the truth. I adapted a few strategies to work around the time constraint and patient's demand.

First, I divide the patients into 2 major groups as the consultation begins;

• The ones with acute illnesses that will recover completely with medications and no sequelae e.g. people who present with strictly malaria or straight forward urinary tract infection. 
• Those who have chronic diseases, terminal illnesses, emotional or family problems. E.g. diabetes, hypertension, asthma, peptic ulcer e.t.c.

The first group I see in a bit of a hurry, minimal counselling and off they go. The second group, the reason this post, I have to counsel extensively, sometimes over several visits. They are always the reason a developed my rule to counselling a patient. It is my 80/20 rule.

Secondly, I apply my 80/20 rule. The 80/20 rule is simple. Just let the individual know from the onset that his recovery is totally up him. I tell my patients with chronic diseases this so they can step it up a notch. Many come to me feeling dejected and I let them know that the battle is up to them to decide if they fight and if they want to win. My favorite line simply corresponds to "when life throws you lemon, you make lemonades". Sometimes, I tell them that my job ends with making the right diagnosis and implementing the correct treatment plan, but it is entirely up to them to follow through or not.

Thirdly, I do not fail to employ something I learnt about counselling a patient with a chronic medical condition while in medical school. They need to know the cause of the illness from you the expert. You don't want them getting infomation from relatives or babalawo (native doctor), that will be the downfall of your management. They need to know the course of this illness. How will it progress? Any there any complications? What are the treatment modalities?

The patient leaves the consultation feeling satisfactied, empower and much better. They leave you with many thanks and a heart full of joy for a job well done. This post is to tell you! that you have every single right to know what you are been managed for, the right to know to names of the medication(s) you are given. People have died from not knowing the name of their medications. Families have been torn apart because the bread winner didn't get to know he was dying enough to make a will before the time.

Empower yourself today and take charge. The CURE is in your hands......
Cheers........

INEC POSTPONES NIGERIAN'S 2015 ELECTIONS

This post may seem like it came late by many standards, but I'm not a newscaster, I'm a blogger, and as such, delivering news with speed is not my forte. Yesterday, Nigerians woke up to the bittersweet news that the elections scheduled for February 14th has been postponed to March 28th. I say it was bittersweet because, while some people were jubilating, others were frowning.

Prior to the postponement of the elections, many already speculated that it would be so. The initial reason though, was that General Muhammadu Buhari would be disqualified because of the whole school certificate fiasco, (story for another day). When the courts called off the strike, the story hit that the president had ordered them to do so, so that the PDP could sue GMB to court, thereby either disqualifying him or postponing the elections. I don’t know how true this is, but you know what they say, "there is no smoke without fire".

Two weeks later, the news came that indeed INEC (the electoral body) was been asked to postpone the elections. Of course, that was another topic for debate. Many citizens including my humble self were convinced that it would be almost impossible. We wondered as to the possible reasons that the president would have now to be calling for a postponement. We didn’t have to wait for long. The reason was simple, the military and police force said they would not be able to guarantee the security of Nigerians, if the elections were to hold come February 14th since they would be too busy fighting boko haram and overthrowing them. Prior to this declaration, we saw on the news how suddenly the sect released about 190 people, (heard they were actually Camerounians) and how the army had killed about 5000 BH  members. I’m so sorry to say this, but I took those info with a pinch of salt. My simple reason is; they didn’t show us on TV, these 190 people released, or capture of any BH members. I still think it’s all part of the campaign/election rhetorics.

This is the conclusion that I have to, after engaging in some debates and discussions;

• Why did I see on TV that while 30000 troops were sent to battle bokoharam, 75000 troops were sent to Osun state for elections. Are they trying to insinuate that one state could become more violent than the bokoharam sect because of elections? Or maybe it was a typographical error. It probably was the other way round.
• How come the Nigerian government and military can suddenly contain bokoharam, as they have promised us BH will be an issue of the past in the next 6 weeks.  If indeed this happens, then Nigerians, bear in mind that you have a very wicked man as president. Because he has allowed fellow Nigerians perish in the hands of bokoharam for 6 years for no good reason. Ehen, let me ask this question, "was the government finally able to get all the sophisticated weapons they needed to fight the BH? Abi na the same old weapons them wan use? hmmm...... *smh*.
• Another reason sited for the postponement of the elections was that INEC hadn't provided the citizens with their PVC (permanent voters card). As such marginalizing them and a certain percentage won't be able to vote. Almost, the same reason for fighting BH at this time, (to enable people in the north eastern part of the country to vote). They said they didn't want any cause to have to render the elections null and void. I just want to know at this point, if it is job of INEC to distribute these PVCs. Some states declared a couple of days as public holidays so that people could collect their cards. I can almost assure you that lots and lots of people used those days to do house chores and not to collect PVC. Also, many individuals don't even know which centres to go to for their cards.
• The only solid reason I got from my many discussions, to postpone this election was that elections shouldn't be held earlier than 90 days or later than 30 days prior to the swearing-in day. This info is in the constitution, and these political parties and INEC were either not aware of it or they decided to ignore it. Because by my calculations, the previously chosen date was invalid as it was about 2 weeks off the mark.

My people, there is a saying that "when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers". So, as these politicians continue to play their games, keep calm and wait for March 28th (God willing, it would hold), to cast your vote for your best candidate.

Cheers....

THE MOST DANGEROUS STORAGE CONTAINER

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the prolonged silence, (wasn't my intention). I have been so busy planning the nuptials of my brother that took place yesterday. Remember him? He celebrated his traditional marriage last December. Like I always say, I think it's only in Nigeria that you have to get married 2 -3 times before you realize that indeed, you are married. Lol. Anyway, will be giving you a detailed analysis of the wedding as soon as possible, so watch out. Today however, I just had to make out time to post this. It is sad, but we must learn from other people's experiences.

How often do we go out to get one form of container or another to store items in our homes. Many of us have various kinds of containers for different objects. For people like me who are organizational freaks, we even have containers for some of these storage containers. That's awesome. However, certain containers are not made to be used as storage cans and most definitely not for certain materials. I decided to go ahead and write a bit on this topic because of some events that happened in the hospital recently. About a month ago, I managed a child that had ingested insecticide. Throughout the period, I was so afraid of the possible complications that could arise. Luckily, he scaled through. When it looked like we could take a breather, just last week, another child was rushed into the emergency room. This one had ingested kerosene!

How? You may ask, did these children come in close contact with these dangerous fluids, up till the point of drinking it. The answer is very simple really, especially if you have had to store kerosene before. These children simply drank what they thought to be water because these fluids were stored in water bottles and then kept within or in close proximity to the kitchen. The brain of a child doesn't work like that of an adult. They function by recognizing something and attributing a meaning to it. It's just like when you carry a baby that isn't yours. A neonate would simply turn his head towards your boobs when it's hungry, while an infant who has recognized his mother would continue to cry until you hand him over to his mother.

This second child wasn't as lucky as the first one, she developed pneumonia 2 days after admission, and a whole lot of issues. Further investigation into the matter brought more to light. I realized that as with many health myths in Nigeria, ingestion of any poisonous substance also has its myths and practices. The commonest of these practices is inducing vomiting after the child has been noticed to have ingested a poison. Please!!!! I beg you, don't do that. Inducing vomiting for a substance like kerosene or a corrosive substance like caustic soda would worsen rather than better the person's condition. The reason for this is simple, kerosene is very volatile and can easily be aspirated into the lungs leading to many complications. Corrosives just burnup the digestive tract.

To avoid such disasters, do the following; 

• DO NOT store clear nonedible fluids like kerosene,  methylated spirit, or their like in water bottles. Labelled or not, home or hospital. A colleague of mine almost drank methylated spirit at work.
• Use appropriate storage cans for such substances and label them neatly. 
• Keep them out of reach of children and dispose of any empty containers.
• If you however, find yourself in such a situation, by some "uncanny" happening, immediately take the child to the nearest hospital for care. Many of these substances have antidotes. 
• On NO account should you try to induce vomiting. 
• Share the word and educate your neighbour.

Remain blessed, 

Cheers......

NAIJA! DUMB, DUMBER AND DUMBEST

Hello everyone,

This week, I thought I was going to let politics lie but, stuff just keeps coming up everyday that makes it difficult to ignore. Everyone has heard of the Buhari's school certificate saga. We have also heard and seen different religious ministers parading themselves on TV and dishing out prophecies from the LORD like it was a hot pot of soup. I’ve decided to take these two topics together though they seem unrelated. However, they both bother on the Nigerian politics of today

Religion:

Of note among the religions in Nigeria, the Christians have decided to take this particular election to new heights. And of these Christians, the pastors and priests. Notably, Rev. Fr. Mbaka of the Catholic denomination and more recently, Pastor from the Redeemed Christian Church of God. The new year ushered in one of the most broadcasted and widely shared (on social media and otherwise) catholic masses held in recent times. It was one in with Rev. Fr. Mbaka had so badly castigated president Jonathan after “endorsing him” as the next president of Nigeria weeks before when he was paid a visit by the first lady, Patience Dame. His outburst only brought attack on him by a few not so forgetful Nigerians.

Fast forward two weeks later (just a few days ago), and the Redeemed pastor is on the pulpit saying he got a revelation from God. He ended up dishing out reasons why Buhari shouldn’t be voted into power.

Honestly, these actions by men of God are embarrassing. It is not my place to judge any of them and if they have taken any bribes to see visions and prophecy; that is entirely their cup of tea. My problems are simply and as follows

• Why are they getting different messages from my God (who I’m very sure doesn’t lie)

• It is their right to have an opinion, it is also their to express themselves. But, please not in a way to try to influence their church members whom a large number of, may be uneducated.

• I don’t see our Muslim Imams showing up on TV and airing their thoughts. It doesn't make them less of a person.  Don’t they have followers too?

Education:

My point here is very simple. We have mainly two candidates running for the position of the president of the country. One is a Ph.D holder, but is referred to as Nigerians most idiotic president by most people. His wife can barely make a sentence without some mistakes and she was awarded a B.Sc in Bayelsa University. The other candidate is a secondary school certificate holder which has been questionable from the entire certificate saga (up until yesterday when he produced one). The one I saw in a newspaper today, showed his 1960’s certificate with a 2014ish passport photograph on it, (and on the wrong part of the certificate too). No one know much about his wife except that she's beautiful. The citizens are mostly schooled (not educated), and mostly poor. So, now we have DUMB and DUMBER between the presidential candidates, (not sure who should be dumb or dumber). And we have the citizens as DUMBEST for allowing a constitution that states that a primary or secondary school certificate holder can be their counselor, local government chairman, governor and even president when they can’t land a proper job with only first degrees these days.

Are we still asking and wondering why we are in the dark ages with the rest of the world in 3010? Wise up Naija!

Adios…

15 PROBLEMS WITH GMB's FAKE LAB TESTS

Over the weekend, some lab results surfaced on the internet, supposedly said to belong to one of the candidates running for the position of the president, (general Muhammadu Buhari). When I saw them, my heart sank. Not out of sympathy for him or anything, (because the results are fake). But out of pity for a country that I call home. It reminded me of the reason why many good people of Nigeria leave the game of politics for those who can get their hands dirty. The reason why politics in Nigeria is viewed as a "do or die" affair. The reason why we are still in this backward movement with corruption thriving like no man's business.

Any medical doctor with half a brain, any good lab scientist, infact, any properly trained medical personnel who sees this results should know that they have been fabricated. Whether the fabrication was done by a very jobless individual as a prank, or whether it was a well plotted plan by the opposition, it makes absolutely no sense. We should focus on a better tomorrow no matter who wins the elections come February, 2015.

For the benefit of millions of the non-medical Nigerian population who wouldn't know what the interpretation of this report could mean, I have decided to analyse it. The first report is that of a kidney function test and prostate test. Let's start from the form;

1. For starters, there is no such hospital in Nigeria as "Ahmadu Bello Teaching Hospital",  what we have is "Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital".
2. When you are unsure but almost certain of a diagnosis, you query it. That 'query' is written in form of a question mark, before the diagnosis not after. So, it's supposed to be "?prostate cancer" not "prostate cancer??".
3. The department should have corrected a mistake like "chemical pathology report from" by now to "form". 
4. Results of kidney function tests (e/u/cr) is gotten within hours even in a very small private hospital (like the one I worked in). Unlike the 4 days indicated in this lab report. 
5. On the other hand, a psa (prostate specific antigen) result can take up to a week to get ready, but let's assume that they are extra fast in processing psa results.
6. In analysing the e/u/cr report, first the values and even SI unit of some of the parameters are wrong e.g. the SI unit for creatinine is in umol/l not mmol/l. The range of potassium is (3.5-5.0) not (30-5.6). Correct values.
7. Notice that there is no result for chloride.
8. At a potassium of 7, the patient would be dead not campaigning around the country 3 months later. 
9. A psa result is non-specific for a cancer of the prostate. Also, certain procedures elevate its values, e.g. passing a ureturethral catheter or performing a digital rectal exam before blood samples are collected. 
10. You don't suggest a diagnosis in a chemical pathology report. But, even if you want to, wouldn't you draw attention to the sinister e/u/cr, rather than a psa?

1. Again, the above report for a "histology" of a prostate biopsy belongs to an institution that is clearly not in Nigeria.  *wrong name of institution*. 
2. The is no request for this prostate biopsy, which is why I put histology in quotes in number 1. For all I know he might have requested a cytology.
3. The request is also staging the disease. You can't stage cancer of the prostate before biopsy ( before confirmation of a cancer), and definitely not by a DRE. Staging is done using bone scan, MRI, CT Scan e.t.c. 
4. The staging is also wrong. There is nothing like prostatic intra-epithelial neoplasm, it's not the cervix. The TNM method is used. Besides that "DRE" done, the person should be thinking more of stage 2 or 3, not a pre-malignant stage. Haba! 
5. Finally histology reports in Nigeria take weeks not 4 days to get reported. Unless, again, ABTH is so fast.

This is the correct ABUTH histology request form.

Please Nigerians, this is not a get in or die trying situation. The Niger-deltans are already threatening fire and brimstones should GEJ lose and the bokoharam, well, will continue their terror should it go the other way. What should other tribes who have never been given an opportunity to rule the country do then? Burn it to the ground? Please let us #votenotfight. If you kill yourself over election wahala, remember that the politicians would still be alive and well, chopping the money that you are hoping to get a pinch of. Be wise!

Cheers....

JONATHAN vs. BUHARI: HOW WOULD YOU DECIDE?

Once again, in Nigeria, the elections are around the corner and everyone who has indicated an interest is in full fledged campaign. However, for the purpose of this post, I'll be concentrating on the candidates or should I say "key candidates" running for the position of the president of the country. The incumbent president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (PDP) and from the opposition party, Muhammadu Buhari (APC). Severally, I have tried to begin writing this post only to save, close and wait for another day. The reason for my delay is simply because I don't want to come off looking like I have taken sides with one team or another. But, alas! I have to speak my mind as usual. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't find a group of Nigerians (men and women alike) discussing issues concerning the upcoming elections. It doesn't matter whether it's a live discussion or something on social media. It is the topic that has taken over the country. I have to prepare you though, this is a very lengthy post.

Now, to begin, let me just say that I don't think these two candidates are fit (or maybe the word I'm searching for is "worthy") to be running for such an office. For starters, they are both liars. Because while Goodluck Jonathan (GEJ for short) came out severally, even on CNN, to state that he wouldn't be staying in office beyond 2015, Buhari (GMB for short) cried openly on national television saying that if he wasn't given a chance back then in 2011, he would never contest again. Today, we have these same men swallowing their words without any ounce of shame. The funny thing though is that they probably think Nigerians are too dull to remember such things since we let all the corruption and suffering in the country slide.

Links: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/04/buhari-weeps-over-nations-problems/
        http://www.nigeriadailynews.com/latest-additions/24805-i-won%E2%80%99t-stay-in-office-beyond-2015,-jonathan-insists.html
          http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/02/i-ll-not-contest-2015-election-jonathan/

Beyond their apparent lack of honour in keeping their words, let's take a look at what they have been able to achieve in Nigeria, since they began their political careers.

GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI:
I was still a child when GMB was the military head of state of this country, so I don't have first hand information on how his regime operated. All I know now, I have gathered from researching what the people who knew what was going on have said. Of note is this article (crimes of Buhari) written by Prof. Wole Soyinka. What I can gather from it is that GMB is a respecter of nobody, a strict dictator who does whatsoever he pleases and enslaved Nigerians for the time he was in power. Some other individuals though, have come out with their own version of the great things GMB achieved for this country. Bottomline, those articles wrote on how GMB had no problems with Christians and hoe there was no religious crisis  during his tenure. They stated how he reduced inflation rate from 23% to 4%. How the naira grew in strength. He was said not to have stolen a single naira from all the offices he has held so far. How he constructed many roads and the list goes on.

GMB hasn't helped matters much by making statements like this either.

Many Nigerians are afraid of what might happen if GMB takes over in 2015. These are some things not going for him;

• His age: believe me, that was the first thing that came to my mind when I first saw his campaign poster. Like, shouldn't there be an age limit for people allowed to contest political offices. For goodness sake! people who work in the ministerial offices are retired after 35 years of service or age 65. For me, the reason is simple, with old age, comes many diseases like hypertension and diabetes among others. Not saying he has any of these (haven't any medical report), but it's what comes to mind. Besides the post of the president is so stressful,  President Barrack Obama grew grey hair after a few years in office. Also, because of his age, he is viewed as ancient and that he isn't abreast with modernization. 
• His religion: he is considered a religious fanatic by many. There is a thin line between fanatic and extremist you know. So,  many Nigerians fear that he might Islamize the country if he comes into power. They say he might further perpetuate the insurgency especially after he said he would make the country ungovernable should GEJ win the 2011 elections.

PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN:
Now, this one I know about. I was one of those who canvassed for his re-election into office in 2011. We all wanted a breath of fresh air. We saw GEJ, as Nigerian's saviour. A man with his vast wealth of knowledge (considering the other presidents before him) should definitely do better. After his 2 years in office succeeding late president Yar'adua, boko haram was gearing up for a war. I remember saying "he would tackle this insurgency effectively once he gets into office, he doesn't just want to lose the support of the northerners yet". That is exactly how majority of Nigerians felt. Since assuming office, he claims to have achieved the following;

• reduced poverty by 50%, 
• created over 1 million jobs
• stabilized power to some extent
• improved the agricultural sector
• improved our economy
• the health and academic sectors, hmmmm -???
• rural development
• stopped ebola spread
• wonderful roads e.t.c
• saved so much money from fuel subsidy removal

He has however, told us some truths about the boko haram insurgency, he can't handle them. What I have seen in the last 4 years of GEJ's administration has opened my eyes to a whole lot. 

• First, about poverty and economic stability: just last year, Nigeria was listed among one of the world's poorest countries. It was a shock to many, afterall, we are the economic giants of Africa. Yes, we are, because we spend a lot. When I visited Kenya for my honeymoon, one of the workers of the placed we stayed at thought we had to be Americans to afford it (not bragging). When we corrected him, he just said "well, it's the same thing". It is because of our "big-man" attitude. We want to ride the latest cars and wear the most expensive designer clothings hence the world sees the few affluent ones and use us to judge the majority who do not have 3 square meals in a day. 
• About creating jobs: well, I can't argue about that, but I wonder where these figures are generated. I wonder how he has created jobs by putting the residency training on hold, making even more doctors seek refuge outside the country. Where are these jobs that were created, if my elder brother who has a doctorate degree couldn't land one? He had to empower himself (no help to the government).
• On the issue of power: hmmm.... I guess it only applies to Abuja, maybe Lagos, because where I live, we go without power for days and the food in the fridge gets bad. (Further impoverishing my pockets). In my house, we now have a timetable for putting on the generator. If your generator gets bad, you better fix it before 6pm, because surely, you shall be with no light that night. Here, the youths went on attack. The funny thing about power is that it has been privatized twice in this 15 years of democratic rule. What I recently found out though is that only the distribution section of the power sector is privatized. the government is still in charge of generating power. You know something else that is funny about power? The people who bought it over, were given money by the government, I might add, to bring it to life. They started with the prepaid meters, problem is, we are charged N750 per month for service charge. So let's say you buy N2000 worth of light, you get N1250. They make sure that you don't utilize that light for a long period. Sometimes it lasts 3 months or more. You go back to buy another N2000's worth when it finally finishes and they tell you to pay service charges for all the months that have gone by. Lastly, this same power sector donated N500 million naira to GEJ's 2015 campaign. And it is said they don't have money to fix power.
• Concerning the health sector: he sacked 16000 resident doctors for going on strike, then called them back and placed an embargo on the training of more residents. Currently, johesu are on strike, since November too. I can still count the number of federal hospitals that have an MRI. I don't think anyone of them has a defibrillator (please correct me if I'm wrong). The doctors are to save lives magically (we don turn native doctors). Still on health, I wouldn't credit GEJ for forestalling the spread of ebola. If anything, he should be grateful to God for the kind of citizens he has. For what a Nigerian fears most besides hardship is death. Even the then minister of health didn't help maters much.
• Let's move on to agriculture and rural development. They say he has done so marvelously well, let me agree, but I just wonder how allocating some millions to buy cell phones for farmers would boost their yield. Then again, some months ago, some millions was allocated to buy stove for the women in the rural areas. How does that help them? Kerosene is supposed to be N50 per litre but we know it is never bought for that amount. These women are now expected to use whatever little they have to buy kerosene. hmmm....
• Did you hear of the whole fuel subsidy fiasco of January 2014 and the occupy Nigeria campaign? Well, we are yet to reap the benefits of that. I haven't seen trains or railway stations yet. Our refineries are still not functional.
• Finally, this is the most openly corrupt government I have seen since I knew a thing about politics. Take for example the fuel subsidy issue, the committee farouked (stole) it and nothing was done to them, even though there was evidence of a recording of their conversation. Alamieyeseigha after been caught and jailed for corruption, was pardoned by GEJ, now he's contesting for senate. After all the dust raised about Stella Oduah, she too is contesting one position of something. Is it the guy that stole N2.3billion naira of pension money and told to pay a fine of N750,000. Sanusi of CBN cried out that money is missing and the president only said "if $20 million dollars got stolen, the united states should know, it's their money". Who says that? The list is endless. And to cap it off, we have no security in the country. Bokoharam is ravaging the north and we can do nothing. The Chibok girls are still missing. Our soldiers are been used as errand boys by bloody civilians. We have tried to buy arms to combat this issue but I don't know how that is going. We know terrorism is never easy to combat, but show some working.

THE POLITICS OF IT ALL:

When it comes to choosing a leader, many Nigerians are naive till date. Mainly for 2 reasons maybe 3; religion, tribe and political party.

For your information, if you are killing yourself for a particular political party, whether it's PDP, APC, APGA or whatever, know that these people truly don't care about you. If you choose to vote for a party and not the individual, understand that they are all PDP or have been at one point or another. They are busy decapitating themselves and sewing their heads back on and swallowing their own vomit, so that at the end, they look like frankenstein.  

Today the "expired leadership" from CPC is their candidate

Does it matter the religion or tribe a person is? Should it matter that the yorubas ruled last now it is time for the Igbos and next the Hausas? What about all the other minority groups, the Ijaws, Binis, Igalas, Nupe, Tivs, Urhobos, Itsekiri, Isokos? Do they have nothing to offer? Can nothing good come out of Nazareth? Have the Major tribes sorted out all their inter-ethnic problems? The Igbo man doesn't think anybody from Asaba or Port-harcourt is "pure" Igbo even though they speak the same language with few variances. We are so focused in calculating which tribe should go next, we miss the point of electing good leadership.

Everyday, many Nigerians (Christians too) leave the shores of this country in search for a better future. Many of this people end up in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, e.t.c. They stay there and start up a business, whatever. Are these not Islamized countries? What are you doing there?. Please let us focus and choose wisely, our votes shouldn't be cast along tribal or religious lines and definitely not because of a political party.

Nigerians have described this election as choosing between frying pan and fire, or devil and the deep blue sea. I say it's choosing between the lesser of 2 evils. I seriously wish someone else from another party had stepped up. Just like what happened in Imo state gubernatorial elections in 2011, when the people were caught between the devil and the deep blue sea and suddenly, land or should I say a ship appeared. Some people would rather remain with the devil they know, than go with the angel they don't know. Others are willing to abandon the sea and go with the devil or should I say jump into the fire, since they have been freezing out at sea and there is no hope of a rescue ship or swimming to shore.

I believe it is time for a change in Nigeria, just not sure if I'm totally convinced that GMB is the man for the change. Shine your eyes, cast your votes wisely.