Don’t ‘Japa’ Because Everyone Is Doing So, Paediatric Cardiologist Tells Nigerian Medical Practitioners

A Paediatric Cardiologist, Prof. Samuel Omokhodion, on Friday, urged medical practitioners not to ‘japa’ (run out of the country) because others are doing so.

Rather, he said they should be concerned with working harder and developing their values.

Omokhodion stated this at the closing of the 60th anniversary of the Department of Paediatrics, College Of Medicine, University of Ibadan and University College Hospital, Ibadan.

Omokhodion spoke on ‘Paediatrics In Nigeria (Ibadan): Contemporary Issues and Prospects.’

The medical expert particularly enjoined paediatricians not to get tired of doing their best and to develop their value in them to the utmost and put it at the service of all.

According to him, they should never allow the misdeeds of others to stop their good deeds.

“Don’t ‘japa’ because everyone is doing so; there may be no fish in the ocean to rescue you again.

“Continuous medical education is a must to keep pace with developments in our field,” he said.

Omokhodion also urged the government to encourage medical practitioners who were enduring what he called the current unfriendly environment without considering leaving the country.

He also noted that poor budgetary allocation to health would continue to impede the sector’s growth.

In his address, the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Mohammed Pate, commended the department for producing world-acclaimed paediatricians.

Pate, represented by one of the directors in the ministry, Prof. Maxwell Nwegbu, said that the future workforce of any nation would be determined by the availability of healthy children.

According to him, paediatricians are key to the growth and development of any nation.

He, therefore, urged them to identify their niche and contribute their own quota toward ensuring successful outcome.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the occasion, Dr Abib Olamitoye, described himself as a ‘proud product’ of the institution.

Olamitoye said that the department had produced many renowned paediatricians, owing to its diligence, discipline and thoroughness.

The Provost, College Of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Prof. Olayinka Omigbodun, urged the paediatricians to further explore their strength and turn their weaknesses into strength.

Omigbodun also advised them to partner with relevant institutions to build an enduring maternal and child institute to make more impacts.

The Head of the Paediatrics Department, Dr Adanze Asinobi, said the department, in its first three decades, had produced three of every five paediatricians trained in Nigeria and the West African sub-region.

Asinobi further stated that the department stood out as one of the leading departments in the College of Medicine.

She noted that the department had produced excellent paediatricians and clinicians who were making waves and impacting the world.

Highlights of the occasion were the anniversary’s documentary review and book launch.