DR. WALE OKEDIRAN
The most touted reason why christians traditionally have shied away from politics was the corporate stamp of negativism which christian leadership attached to the practice of politics.
At the World Missionary Conference of 1910 held in Nigeria, it was categorically agreed that all missionaries and their missions should abstain from politics; thus churches were made to treat politics or any semblance of political partisanship with a long spoon and undisguised disdain because of the erroneous belief that religion and politics do not mix. In fact, the more you were seen to abhor politics, the more saintly you were regarded.
The late Obafemi Awolowo said: “I am a lawyer by profession and a politician by calling”. The strange but intriguing marriage of medicine and politics. Situate the meeting point of these engaging professions to determine whether or not a medical background could make a person a better politician or vice-versa.
Today, we have many doctors who are actively involved in politics. We are entering an era in which christian politicians are facing ever more hostile media and highly divisive politics. There will be more establishment pressure put on this group of people to shed their godly principles.
Nigeria is overdue for a revolution, both spiritual and political!” This position was vociferously canvassed by Pastor Paul Adefarasin, the charismatic Senior Pastor of the House On The Rock ministry, who called on all Nigerian christians, regardless of denominational differences, to stop behaving like cowardly losers; to be more united; and to be more actively involved in the governance politics of their nation.
Medicine and Politics
Being a politician is an odd job. No other form of employment is as quite all-consuming. Apart from the daily demands of political office, the demands on time by your political party and constituents are enough to drain the best out of any politician. In his highly successful book, the Political Animal (Penguin Books 2002) the British journalist and writer, Jeremy Paxman, observed that people go into politics with a variety of motives, some noble, some vain. He also observed that very few politicians leave the stage happily. Quoting Enoch Powell in his biography of Lord Chamberlain, Paxman remarked, “All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure because that is the nature of politics and of human affairs.”
It is believed that even great achievements are no insurance for a second term – or a third term, for those interested. This is because the electorate usually gets tired of the same politician. Meanwhile, presidents often overstay their welcome while some party chairmen can be sacrificed by their parties, or their presidents after a meal of pounded yam, as it recently happened here in Nigeria.
Also, in view of the poor state of the nation’s economy, people have generally seen politics and political appointments as easy access to wealth. Therefore, whatever your achievements as a politician, the possibility of a re-election is very remote as many people are already lined up for your position before the next election.
With all these attendant problems and uncertainties, it then becomes a puzzle why a medical doctor will want to leave the peace and certainty of his medical practice for the murky and uncertain, and sometimes violent world of politics, especially in Nigeria.
I recall an incident which occurred in 2003 which buttresses the uncertainty of politics. After the list of candidates which included my name had been sent to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in Abuja over the weekend, I was rest assured that my candidature was confirmed. However, to my dismay, by the following Monday, my name had disappeared and been replaced with another name.
When I complained to my party leaders, they wondered what I was doing over the weekend. When I replied that since offices were closed over the weekend, I had no reason to consider the need to do any follow-up, the leaders chastised me for being complacent. As they put it, “there are no holidays in politics. Even then, one day is a long time in politics”. So, I had to start the arduous and exhausting process of campaigning all over again before I finally secured my nomination!
Historians of the comparative school have found a similarity in the requirements expected for an aspiring medical doctor and politician. These include self-confidence, persistence, physical stamina, incurable optimism, a good ability to go through a mountain of written material whether in the form of newspapers, committee reports or medical textbooks as well as odd working hours. It is also believed that to be a successful doctor-politician, one needs a spouse who doesn’t object to long separations, to coming second, to being admired and petted but hardly listened to. The children too must be prepared to put up with an absent parent and the occasional taunts of their classmates who often accuse their parents of being the cause of the country’s woes.
My wife has promised to write her biography and I have suggested a title for her: “The Empty Bed; Memoirs of a politician’s wife.” I only hope that the revelations of the eagerly awaited but expectedly very critical book will not put to rest my self-adjudged ratings as a first rate husband! It would however be a worthwhile thing if the spouses and children of politicians can all document their experiences. We shall then be able to see how politics has contributed to the development or devastation of the family unit. One of the most fascinating accounts of a politician’s life from the point of view of his offspring I ever read was that given by Lisa Dayan, daughter of the late Israeli strongman, Moshe Dayan. In the book titled; “Home Before Dark”, Lisa complained bitterly of the emotional distance between her father and her due to his busy and often pyrrhic political life. I surely hope that my children will be kinder to me in their verdict. Perhaps, the most difficult thing to manage in politics is the invasion of one’s privacy. This is worse in a society such as ours bedevilled by the twin evils of poverty and ignorance.
As the people’s elected, apart from your constitutional duties, you are also expected to attend and sponsor all social functions in your constituency not to talk of personal requests such as payment of school fees, wedding expenses, medical bills and the like. The demands become so exhausting that it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to plan for the future. No wonder, many political office-holders find themselves in penury only a few months after leaving office.
Thus, literature, medicine and politics seem to demand the same characteristics of late night stamina, optimism, self- confidence and brinkmanship. A cynical writer once remarked that these ingredients are essentially the same needed for gambling!
As earlier mentioned, doctors are not the only professionals who go into politics, in fact, some professions such as the legal profession lead better into politics than others because it is easier for lawyers to arrange their time in and out of politics.
Rudolf Virchow, the German pathologist had as far back as 1847 made that great observation that medicine and politics are both social sciences in the sense that they are involved in the socio-economic good and advancement of man and society. This was after the then young scientist had released the report of his investigation of an epidemic of typhus which had occurred in Upper Silesia currently located in Poland. In the said report, Virchow concluded that the cause of the epidemic was caused by “mismanagement of the region by the Berlin government”. His recommendation that democracy be allowed to thrive in Silesia dramatically changed the lot of the kingdom for the better.
In a related experience, Dr. Wayengera Misaki of Mulago National Referral Hospital in Uganda observed in a recent edition of the British Medical Journal that government policies almost always affect the health of a nation positively or negatively. As Misaki put it “the health sector of many African nations has lagged behind because of poor governance. Politicians embark on developing other sectors to the detriment of the health sector as though the country can exist without healthy citizens”- the doctor was not happy with politicians who are quick to rush their relatives abroad for minor ailments which could have been treated in their home countries if the local doctors had been well empowered to do so.
Also, Senator Olorunnimbe Marnora, a medical doctor, who is also a serving senator, in a recent lecture observed thus:
Medicine is concerned more about life and healthy living in a capsule, about humanity while politics is a forum for social contract between the politician and the people. In other words, politics, just like medicine, is supposed to be honourable simply because it is aimed at and concerned with humanity. It is, however, unfortunate that all over the world, Nigeria inclusive, politics and politicians are hardly associated with nobility of purpose and public spiritedness.
That this low opinion of politics and politicians is universal is characterised by the definition of British politicians by a British journalist Jeremy Paxman as: a bunch of egotistical lying narcissists who sold their souls long ago and would auction their children tomorrow if they thought it would advance their career. They are selfish, manipulative, scheming vipers. The only feelings they care about are their own. You cannot trust a word any politician says and if you shake hands with them, you ought to count your fingers afterwards, in case one of the fingers has been stolen.
I am sure this definition is also very popular here in Nigeria. I recently attended a church service here in Ibadan where the officiating minister asked all sinners and politicians to come forward for deliverance. Since he did not mention politicians/writers/doctors, I did not go up.
This very low opinion of politicians to my mind is a hangover from the period when politics, just like a military career, was believed to be the past time of charlatans, never-do-wells and the jobless. Happily, with the emergence of more well-educated, honest and principled individuals in the political arena, this rather poor view of politicians is gradually changing even though at a very slow pace.
What is needed is a faster rate of change to achieve a critical mass if we want to place the future of our dear country in the hands of the right people.
As Socrates once observed; “the greatest punishment for the wise who refuse to rule is to suffer the rule of idiots”. To me, it was this very quotation by Socrates more than any other thing that finally galvanised my decision to go into politics.
Historically, Nigerian doctors have been involved in politics since the 8th century, when in 1908, Dr. J. K. Randle and Dr. O. Obasa formed the Peoples’ Union, the first political party in Lagos. Since then, Nigerian doctors have come a long way in their involvement in politics. Apart from Dr. Koye Majekodunmi who served as the administrator of the then western region during the constitutional impasse of the 1960s, various medical doctors have held various positions of authority in the country’s polity. Medical doctors who have become state governors include (late) Prof Ambrose Alli, Peter Odili, Bukola Saraki, Chimaroke Nnamani and the well-known Anambra State Governor Chris Ngige. Also remarkable are secretaries to state governments, senators and members of the house of representatives such as Bisi Odejide, Dalhatu Tafida, Jubril Aminu, Martins Yellowe. Olorunnimbe Mamora, Arninu Safana among others, not to talk of heads of parastatals. commissioners and local government officers.
Outside Nigeria, Heads of States who were also medical doctors were Karnuzu Banda of Malawi, Houphoet Boigny of Ivory Coast as well as the great Mahalthir Mohammed of Malaysia who before his recent voluntary retirement led his country to one of the greatest economic renaissances of the century.
As stated earlier, we need to examine the important question of whether or not medical training has in any way improved the politics of the country or vice versa. In answering this question, it is very obvious that because of its great demand on time and energy, politics hardly gives the practitioner enough time for any extra activities. It is also important to remember that medical practice revolves round the personality of the medical doctor whose absence usually affects patronage. In this respect, many doctors have confirmed that their medical practices have suffered in their absence even when such practices were placed in the hands of reputable and well-qualified colleagues.
As for the impact of medical education on the practice of politics, doctors are expected to bring their long and detailed training into the arts of politics. They are also expected to bring into politics the obedience of the Hippocratic oath, which they swore to as medical doctors. The summary of this oath is the doctor’s vow to consecrate his or her life to the service of humanity, a similar vow made by the politician to respect the constitution of the country. It is, therefore, obvious that other things being equal, doctors are expected to bring a certain amount of dignity and nobility to their political performance.
In view of the fact that the number of doctors currently in politics is very few and coupled with the fact that politics is a game of numbers with the majority having their way, it is difficult to objectively assess the degree of the impact of our doctor-politicians on our polity. However, from personal communications, one can say with conviction that many of our doctor-politicians are proving their mettle. Their timely intervention during the recent polio vaccine debacle, which saved the country from a disastrous epidemic, is an example of the values of politics and medicine. On a personal level, I have found my medical background very useful in my contribution to debates on very important subjects such as the National Health Policy, the HIV/AIDS Bill, the Anti-Tobacco Bill as well as the Vesico-Vaginal Fistula and the Polio Vaccination exercise among others.
It is, however pertinent to note that while one’s professional training is expected to impinge on one’s performance or behaviour in public office, this depends to a large extent on one’s background.
While Lord Acton’s well known maxim that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” is true, it has also been established that more than this, power also reveals. A position of authority usually gives the holder of that office the confidence and the capacity to do those things, good or bad, which he had always wanted to do. It is also possible that a fellow who cheated to get into the university and is able to cheat to graduation will definitely continue to live a life of fraud in whatever position of authority attained.
The advantage of a medical background for a politician lies in the fact that having seen life and death, the doctor-politician may feel more compassionate than someone who only tackles files and machines in his daily life. Files and machines as we all know do not bleed or cry or die. It is this compassion that is expected to permeate throughout the doctor’s political activities.
About the Author
Wale Okediran Medical Director, Cornerstone Medical Centre, Sango, Ibadan / Former Member, House Of Representatives, Abuja / Past President, Association Of Nigerian Authors
#Leadership #Politics #2018
