How another gov almost died of wrong diagnosis

ONCE again, wrong diagnosis – a potentially dangerous development which claims the life of many Nigerians – could easily have led to the loss of another high profile individual in the country.
Governor Umaru Al-Makura of Nasarawa State was recently diagnosed of arthritis, but on travelling abroad for treatment, “it was subsequently discovered that the ailment was actually not arthritis,” he told newsmen on Friday.
Addressing the media in his private residence in Lafia, the state capital, Al-Makura said the ailment that afflicted him had affected the socket on his right hip, necessitating his undergoing surgery at a hospital in Newcastle, United Kingdom, about three weeks ago.
He said he is currently undergoing physiotherapy that would bring about complete healing.
Saturday Tribune recalls that the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Yunana Iliya, had recently asked Al-Makura, who is of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), to resign over his alleged hearing impairment or face impeachment by the state House of Assembly.
Replying Iliya on Friday, the governor said he was disappointed that such a highly placed personality would make such remarks on disability, describing Iliya’s statement as “immoral, inhuman and ungodly.”
Al-Makura’s recent misdiagnosis is, once again, a negative statement on the state of the nation’s medical infrastructure.
The late fiery human rights lawyer/activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, was once misdiagnosed of suffering from pneumonia. After living with and taking treatment based on that diagnosis for many years, Gani was rightly diagnosed at a foreign hospital of actually suffering from lung cancer – which by then was at an advance stage.
At the moment, three Nigerian state governors are abroad for treatment. They are Taraba State Governor, Ibrahim Suntai, who was flown to Germany following an air crash on October 25 last year; Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime, and Cross River State governor, Liyel Imoke.
The only exceptional case in recent times, Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada, chose to be treated in a private hospital in Abuja, the nation’s capital, after fracturing his right hip in a December 28 auto accident.
He successfully underwent surgery and has been discharged to recuperate in a private residence.