Pendoctor

I was not lucky throughout my undergraduate medical education and compulsory 1-year housemanship to witness or assist in the delivery of twin babies per vaginum. I only witnessed and assisted in the delivery of single babies. Few of my colleagues were lucky to either be on duty or coincidentally walked into the labour ward complex of Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba when mothers were delivered of twin babies per vaginum. My legs never walked in such random manner to give me that experience that thrilled my colleagues whenever they talked about how a second baby was delivered after some minutes of the first. I longed for the experience; I did not have it. I completed my housemanship in 2009, and was certified with a full licence to practise as a medical doctor. Before completion of housemanship, every doctor has a provisional licence to practise medicine and surgery. The provisional licence expires after two years from the date it was issued. Fate sent me to Yobe state for ...

  Some years ago, I attended to a Caucasian lady. She was a crew member in one of the International Airlines, so she visited Nigeria often. She had a minor complaint which would have resolved even without treatment. The encounter with her lasted less than five minutes, but she left a good impression which I had not experienced with black patients. Less than one minute after she left my consulting room, she returned and the following discussion ensued. Lady: "Dr, pardon me, please. Would you still advise me not to do anything about my complaints because I have been booked for a Pacemaker placement surgery in UK next week?" I: "No, madam. You don't need to do anything." She thanked me again and left my office. Throughout the remainder of that day and several times since then, I have wondered if a Nigerian would give such unsolicited medical information to the doctor. We are secretive people to our own peril sometimes. The patients know what they have medically exp...

Ministry of Information, National Orientation Agency, and bodies saddled with the responsibility of communicating to Nigerians have not lived up to expectation. No society thrives without proper and repetitive communication of the will of the government to the citizens. I give the persons in government the benefit of the doubt that they mean well. Despite being educated, there are many things literate people do not understand about governance. It does selfless leaders no good letting people live in ignorance.  Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala tried their best through town hall meetings and other fora to communicate with Nigerians the humongous cost of governance, how to reduce it, amongst other things. They also harped repeatedly on the need for subsidy payments to be discontinued due to the inability of the government to objectively evaluate that the right amounts and the right persons are being paid. They explained that the subsidy can be used for infrastructural deve...

Search Engines have many benefits. They have their disadvantages too when we accept all the information without clarifying with professionals. Watch the video and note the lessons.

  It was the second time in five years that I had an encounter of timely help from a stranger. I wrote about the first one in my article titled, "Rescue by an Angel." This is the link  https://pendoctor.blogspot.com/2023/02/rescue-by-angel.html The second experience was in the year 2013. I had just finished a 30-hour shift in my hospital of postgraduate training in Lagos. Doctors who worked on such long shifts closed at 2 pm the following day when they resumed at 8 am. The road was relatively free, so I rushed home to rest. While driving along Mobolaji Bank-Anthony way towards the bridge connecting the airport (MM2), I impulsively decided to turn at the Olowu junction to link Obafemi Awolowo way in Ikeja. It would allow me to escape the hold up that was often experienced along the Computer Village area in Ikeja. Perhaps I should not have turned at Olowu junction. Less than two seconds after turning off the busy Mobolaji Bank-Anthony way, my car suddenly stopped. "Ha!...

I speak for Nigeria; before the 21st century, communal associations were unavoidable. We visited our friends; we held physical parties; we played outdoor games with our neighbours, and got involved in many face-to-face engagements. We had no choice if we didn’t want to have nervous breakdown as a result of loneliness. In recent years, civilization via digitization, has brought much benefits to mankind. Along also come so many unintended negative implications. Out of over 200 million Nigerians, more than 70 million people have access to internet on their phones; with Netflix, Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video and other movie Apps, many people can be by themselves 24-7. Lovers of football and other sports can watch live programs on their phones all year round. New media has successfully kept us apart. It is very possible for a couple not to have worthwhile communication for days despite having no rift in their relationship. So long there is power on their phones and other gadgets, why shoul...

Her crime was her beauty. She had always been delectable. At birth, many well-wishers questioned her paternity. On the day of her christening, a neighbour whispered to another, "Are we sure Mr. Kojo is the father of this fine girl?"  While her parents were dark in complexion, Toke was light-complexioned. She had delicate features that made her the envy of her peers. Her father had a coarse look; her mother was neutral. Toke grew up dealing with uncomplimentary teases about her looks being different from other members of her family.  Unperturbed, she did well in all areas of life. As a teenager, Toke ignored advances from young boys, and when she became much older, men of different social classes visited her father's house. They all had one mission even when they pretended that they had other reasons for their visit.  Her parents became worried. "Don't you discuss Toke's marital plans with her?" her father had asked her mother several times. Mrs Kojo repl...