Widespread condemnation trails Nigerian health minister’s press gaffe

He is one of Nigeria’s ministers that are active on social media but this is not the best of times for him online

Several weeks ago, Nigeria’s health minister, Prof Isaac Adewole, while fielding questions from journalists while on official assignment at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex at Ile-Ife said, on record, that not all medical doctors will become consultants. Instead, some will become farmers among other career options. He also added that his current tailor is a doctor.

The video subsequently went viral prompting condemnations on social media including young medical doctors who slammed the health minister for holding on to a mindset that is dangerous to healthcare in Nigeria and is one of the reasons why brain drain is happening at an alarming rate in the health sector.

While several of the doctors that were not happy with the minister’s statement would not public slam him for the disparaging comment, the minister’s posts on social media had been consistently targeted by trolls who use every opportunity to remind him of Nigeria’s need for healthcare professionals.

On September 26, the minister shared a post on Twitter from the 73rd Session of United Nations General Assembly that was held in New York. He acknowledged the presence of Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari at a meeting on how to end tuberculosis. The comment section was soon hijacked by Nigerians reminding him of his comment.

Justice Uche said: “I wonder how you expect to end TB when you’ve advised doctors to become farmers. Under your watch Nigerian Medical Association is haemorrhaging doctors like there is no tomorrow. 1:6500, doctor to patient ratio.”

He also expressed pessimism on the effectiveness of the recently launched patient bill of rights.

“I wonder how the new patient bill of rights will work when there are no doctors.”

There were also several calls for the minister’s resignation while others trolled him.

His post announcing his participation at a side session organised by Devex and the GFF also suffered similar fate. At the session, the minister said he shared innovative financing options used in expanding the fiscal space for health in Nigeria. But the responses took the minister back to the comment he made in Ile-Ife.

Investigations by healthnews.africa revealed the minister who is a frequent user of social media has not posted anything on his official pages since September 26 when the trolling reached  its peak. It is also worthy to note this is the minister’s longest hiatus on social media.

While the minister has not been posting on social media, the health ministry’s website continues to be updated with developments at the ministry without a comment section. This, experts said, suggested the minister’s team is conscious of continual exposure of the minister’s profile to disparaging comments that could be read and acted upon by the ministry’s international partners.

Brand experts told healthnews.africa that going offline is one of the best ways the minister can reduce the barrage of attacks he has been dealing with since he made the comment. They however warned it will not be enough for him to continue to ignore the aftermaths of his comments.

“What he should have done is to clarify what he meant and not keep quiet and hope it will simply go away. The only side of the story out there does not favor him. His clarification or simple apology would go a long way in repairing any damage done to his brand locally and internationally. This is 2018 and internet does not forget,” a brand expert told healthnews.africa in Lagos.