Politics of Stomach Infrastructure (Fayose must hear this) By Dr. Laofe Ogundipe.
When Sir Moore wrote a satire, describing a vision of utopia about the UK of the 16th century, no abuse was intended, but the usage of utopian quickly turned abusive and pejorative. He strove for a fair and near perfect society as the vision of utopia. He was audacious in this satire, seeking a fair society called Utopia. However,Utopian quickly became a word of abuse and pejoration for an unrealizable dream. A fair society unrealizable? That was the UK of the 16th century. Then politicians of conscience (a rare breed anywhere in the world) started to work towards the Utopia. Soon enough, may be not as soon as Sir Moore had hoped, the ordinary citizens started to have access to economic opportunities like better employment and access to good health care that only the landed gentry had hitherto enjoyed. Today, the Prime Minister of Great Britain proudly uses the same primary health care service as every citizen of UK. It would be politically suicidal to do otherwise. And today, no citizen of the UK has to pay for healthcare at the point of receiving it. Is this the Utopia that Sir Moore wrote about? May be part of it.
Universal health care that is free at the point of use in Ekiti is my Utopia. But a realizable dream it is. Nobody should accuse me, as some officinados of the previous administration in Ekiti relentlessly did, of expensive and unrealizable utopian dream.
It is an act of unparalleled political sagacity to upstage derogatory stereotypes and the negative connotation of the utopian persists. But when the United Kingdom Conservative party was derided and derogated with the abusive name Tories, the party did the audacious. They adopted the name Tory, as their nickname. The Conservative Party, aka the Tory Party! What a master stroke. This took the sting out of the abusive and pejorative connotation of TORY. The Tories with the human face that is. The Tories for a fair society not the uncaring Tories for the landed gentry. The party has been winning general elections in the UK since then.
Nigerians, particularly Ekiti people, are gentle and accommodating people, perhaps unreasonably gentle and unduly accommodating. They accommodate with equanimity all the rape of democracy meted on them by their mindless politicians of all colours. They accept the crumbs falling off their masters’ tables, like the kitchen soup; money for only the boy with the cancer, and here today gone tomorrow health missions for the rest, all policies of Dr Fayemi’s administration. They make do with bastardised primary health care whilst their politicians travel overseas for their health care and whilst a young and healthy Governor travels about with a fully equipped and fully staffed ambulance in his entourage. These are the Infrastructure that serve the wealthy few and their cronies not the masses with hungry stomach to feed. Not stomach infrastructure, the infrastructure that serve the poor whose needs are food in the stomach and jobs to go to. When government officials are asked to improve the lots of the people, they accuse such critics as seeking the Utopian. Some critics have to bow out for not wanting to be seen advocating the Utopian. It is Utopian to involve people in planning their services. It is Utopian to go to hospital and find a doctor seated in his clinic or doing his round. It is Utopian to find prescribed drugs in the pharmacy. It is Utopian for people not to risk bankruptcy with exorbitant out of one’s pocket payment for medical treatment when they fall sick. It is Utopian for the government to tell you how much they pay for the drugs they are distributing to health facilities. It is Utopian to ask 36 governors to count 36 votes correctly and decide the winner. It is Utopian to ask the governor to tell the governed how 300 million naira of the poor people’s money is spent every single month as SV (Security Vote). It is utopian to ask the government to spend this money to improve the individual economic circumstance of the people. It is Utopian to ask the government to spend 3 billion naira on people’s healthcare rather than on a luxurious new government house to replace a perfectly functional one. If all these are utopian, I want to be Mr. Utopian.
I am for Utopian Universal Health Care. In this perfect scenario, everybody gets free and equitable access to high quality health care. Doctors and other health care practitioners are given performance related bonus, by the people’s Governor to drive good performance that provides high quality health care for the masses. When the poor man falls ill, he receives free treatment rather than do without food to buy the required medication. The governed and the governor both receive the same high quality healthcare at their local primary health care centre, not the one for health mission and the other the health tourism in far away UK.
My new name is Mr Utopian Stomach Infrastructure. When Ayo Fayose won a not unexpected landslide victory in Ekiti State, June 2014, the surprised elites attributed the victory to stomach infrastructure, (if not to a highly sophisticated photochromic rigging ) a derogatory description of personal economic circumstance characterised by hunger and penury that led the people to demand a bowl of rice for their votes. I did not see anything wrong in voting for the man who you believe will improve your individual economic circumstance, aka stomach infrastructure. So the people voted for candidate Ayo Fayose. I was not surprised by his victory and I applauded the people for their choice, even if their man was attempting to build something on nothing. I made reference to electorates in more civilised societies who put their personal economic well being and health care, above all else, as the two most important determinants of who they will vote for. Interest rate policies that determine ready flow of capital into their pocket is their equivalence of our stomach infrastructure. Increasing Social Security Benefits for all poor and unemployed people is their stomach infrastructure. Free health care, paid for either by Social health insurance policy or affordable health insurance policy or from the general taxation, is their stomach infrastructure. So when Govenor Fayose appointed a special assistant on stomach infrastructure, he once again demonstrated his political sagacity, akin to what the Conservative Party did in the UK, adopting the Tory nickname. Governor Fayose turned Stomach Infrastructure from derogatory and abusive connotation, to a solid foundation upon which to build his legacy. Herein lies the trap for his administration.
If this peculiar special assistant went about his duties with commitment and vigour, and with an eye to the future, Governor Fayose would leave a legacy in Ekiti State that would be unheard of in the annals of Nigerian politics. His legacy would be stomach infrastructure for the poor majority, his special constituents. He would provide health care for the masses, for there cannot be stomach infrastructure without accessible and acceptable health care. Free health service, free at the point of use, that is, for everyone in the state, everywhere they live in Ekiti and every time they become ill, is a prerequisite pillar of stomach infrastructure. It enables the poor man to spend his meagre resources to feed himself and his family; to concentrate his man looking for jobs or establishing self-employment and to spend his time working. Health is wealth and any attempt at stomach infrastructure without free health care (free at the point of service) for every citizen of Ekiti would be tantamount to deceiving the masses. The Governor must know that there is no stomach infrastructure without universal healthcare. You cannot fool all the people all the time with empty promise of stomach infrastructure. Stomach infrastructure is not eating roasted with 100 poor people by the road side but providing health care for all the citizens who voted for (not along party lines). Ex-Governor Dr. Fayemi enjoyed a resounding and joyful welcome from the people on assumption of duty. No wonder the expectations of the people were too high, although free health care for them is not too high an expectation for the people’s Governor. Dr. Fayose is building up similar expectations and don’t hold your breath for a dissimilar end even if the Governor is not entitled to a second term. Nevertheless a legacy of Stomach infrastructure based on universal health care is a golden opportunity for Governor Fayose to cement his famous bond with the people. But will the cookies crumble? The people will hear that the Governor fails on his promises to them although he had 300 million naira to spend on himself and his cronies as SV, every single month of the year.
Nay sayers abound in the new administration as it did in the previous. For those who believe that a poor state like Ekiti cannot afford universal health care that is free at the point of use, the question is how can such a poor state afford an economically unproductive, 3 billion naira new government house whilst the path to economic viability of the state, namely universal health care, is littered with obstacles by self-serving officialdom? How did ex-Governor Kayode Fayemi fluff this opportunity for a gold dust legacy? Only history will tell. But will Governor Fayose fluff the same opportunity? Only time will tell. And time is the scarcest of commodities.