- We welcome doctors’ offer to conduct medical test for presidential aspirants
Nigerian doctors and their counterparts in the Commonwealth have expressed their readiness to conduct medical test for presidential aspirants in the country. They made their intention known through their umbrella bodies, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and the Commonwealth Medical Association. All the associations need is the nod of Nigerians making the test a part of the electoral process, and they will commence the exercise immediately, in time for the 2019 General Elections.
Vice-President of the Commonwealth Medical Association and a former President of the NMA, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, said he had been pushing this idea for long adding that he “even canvassed for this at the National Conference. However, the selfish interest of the political class has not allowed this to happen and so they have been holding us hostage. Nigerians have always borne the brunt of this selfish interest.”
According to Enabulele, “The time has come for us to ascertain the health status of anyone who aspires to lead us. And this is not about a candidate just presenting a medical certificate to the public; medical reports can be purchased. The health test should be conducted by trusted persons and I’ll love to be involved. Though ill-health is something no one proposes, at least let’s start getting things right. It’s a way of moving this country forward.”
NMA’s president, Prof. Mike Ogirima, also observed, and rightly too, that “Ideally, if anyone is about to be employed in an organisation, they are subjected to a pre-employment medical test. Similar tests should be carried out on all presidential aspirants seeking to hold the most important office in the country. And the test should be as comprehensive as possible.”
We agree with the doctors and others who believe that presidential aspirants should undergo medical tests before being fielded for elections. Medical clearance should be one of the criteria for contesting elections, indeed not only for presidential aspirants, but also for governorship aspirants.
As observed by the NMA president, medical test is a major requirement even in employment matters. Many multinationals and other blue chip companies would not employ anyone that has not been certified medically fit; even prospective youth corps members are asked, as part of the requirements, to come along with medical certificates from public hospitals before being accepted for national service. As a matter of fact, some countries too ensure that those seeking to lead them are fit medically before going for elections.
What all these tell us is that there is some merit in knowing the state of medical fitness of our leaders. We agree with those who believe that anyone can fall sick even after obtaining medical clearance declaring them as fit as a fiddle; nonetheless, it is not a sufficient ground to negate having our political aspirants examined to determine their suitability for the offices they look forward to occupying.
Perhaps one challenge we may face due to our peculiar circumstances is the politicisation of almost everything under the sun which might come into play in the process of ascertaining political aspirants’ fitness to serve. The other is the need to reconcile the cultural belief that surrounds people’s state of health, with transparency.
As for the former, this can be overcome by making the whole process open and transparent. Credibility comes in when people who are apolitical are involved in the exercise. Perhaps, to give the test the highest level of professional integrity, we suggest that the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) takes charge of the test. The NMA is a trade group while MDCN is the professional regulator; and would therefore appear better placed to carry out the job.
As for the latter however, anyone seeking public office, especially at the presidential or governorship level, must know that there are limits to how secretive they can be with their health status because their state of medical fitness has implications on the lives of millions that they intend to lead.
