Replicating The Nigerian Tragedy In Medical Fraternities- Dialogue Of The Synagogue?
THE PREAMBLE...
I am not a candidate in the forthcoming AGPMPN Lagos elections.
I do not support, nominate, endorse, advocate, or campaign for any of the candidates.
THE GANTRY OR THE GALLEY?
It is often said that if good people refuse to stand for elective offices, they would be duty-bound to obey laws made and directives given by miscreants....for which persons would eagerly throw fists in parliament other than the roughians?
It is also said that the sins of bad people are of lesser gravity than those of good persons who look on and fail to act when things go awry!
As I received a message recently notifying me of the on-coming elections in the Lagos "house" of the AGPMPN, I had this overwhelming compulsion to draw a parallel between our in-house mindsets and body language as a noble fraternity and happenings in our nation's polity! I had a fearful premonition that things would go like "business as usual".
A GLANCE AT THE DANCE...
I see a tendency for good people to resign themselves to nonchalance in putting themselves forward as candidates for the various offices.
I see them barely indicating flipant interest in attending the appointed venue as 'mere' electorates on the election day....duty calls ever ready excuses for such truancy at meetings!
I see them thinking that politics in whatever guise or guile must be neglected at.....or confined to the precints of the idle, the indolent and the unsrupulous.
I see them cowingly striving to be as invisible as possible at medical fora and seeking contentment in simply flowing with the tide.
I see previous officers returned unopposed irrespective of their recent "show of shame"!....and other gory antecedents.
I see zonal officers bereft of meaningful trajectory in this tenure....other than "welcoming members to new months".....brazing up to take up additional posts...and additional responsibilities....by vying for posts at the state level.
I see officers at the state level who hold additional posts in HCPAN and other sister associations striving to be returned.....hopefully unopposed....to their docile chores!
I see a largely docile membership aiding and abetting such officers in this wise actively or passively....ditto communal errors of ommission or commission.
I see a baffling perpetuation of the status quo.....
I see members loudly wail and whine away long after this avoidable tragedy that we willingly perpetuate akin to a polymerase enzyme gone askance.....long after the virus has taken over the nuclear apparatus of its unwary host!
But members can prove me wrong by voting differently this time around. Can't they?
A COUNSEL TO BE IGNORED?
So, as we elect persons of unblemished track records, unwavering honesty, rare devotion and uncommon aptitude this time around, my counsel to members is that we come up with ideas about bettering our collective lots.
That we speak up and freely at meetings. That we come up with memoranda and position papers.
That we encourage our officers to actualize those fine ideas of theirs which led us to vote for them in the first instance.
That as we theorize and cerebrate over these issues, we would realise that matters of our welfare must take precedence over flippancies like spurrious awards and dinners! (A good leader would not utilize scarce funds to organize a conference on housing instead of using such funds to build houses. Neither would he embark on bogus trips or issue lousy advertorials!)
That we see the benefits inherent in cooperating rather than give vent to unhealthy competition....
That the main essence of an association is cooperation....realising that our associating can better our collective lot only if we cooperate!
That we must have a clear recognition of those goals achievable only in synergy....as distinct from those amenable to individual attainment.
Vote right.....
Sincerely Yours,
Dr Tosin Akindele.
Dr Tosin Akindele is a Lagos-based medical practitioner, founder of Analytical Minds, good health advocate and social critic.