BY ADA
DIKE
Poised to
change the image of a federal medical centre in Nigeria, one of Nigeria’s
tested and trusted chief medical directors has contributed immensely to ensure
that Nigerians, who seek for medical care would go home satisfied after being
treated.
This is what
the Chief Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Umuahia, Abia
State, Dr. Abali Chuku, has passion for. And this has brought accolades and
awards from far and near to him. Recently, in recognition of his contribution towards
promotion of adequate health care in Nigeria and for the excellent work he has
been doing to change the image of the FMC, Umuahia, Dr. Chuku, was inducted
into International Medical Mission Hall of Fame in Ohio, United States of
American on April 18, 2015. He was the first African/black man to receive the
award.
Background
Born on
November 23, 1962 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Chuku hails from Amaeke Item,
Bende Local Government in Abia State. He is happily married and has three
children.
Educational
background
Chuku began his primary education at Bruce Grove
Primary School, Tottenham, England, from 1971 to 1974 and enrolled for his
secondary education at Northumberland Park School, Tottenham, in 1974. The
following year, he returned to Nigeria and was admitted at the famous Mayflower
School, Ikenne, Ogun State, a first-class secondary school famous for its
scholarship as well as the antecedents of its founder, the late Dr. Tai
Solarin, where he completed his secondary education in 1980. He came out in
flying colours having earned distinction (A1) in 10 subjects and therefore
earned Aggregate 6. Aggregate 6 is the maximum any candidate can make if he
scores A1 in six subjects. The same year (1980) he secured admission to read
medicine at the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, graduating in 1986 with
MBBS.
Career
Dr. Chuku’s career trajectory is dotted with
significant landmarks. He first began as a house officer at Queen Elizabeth
Specialist Hospital (now Federal Medical Centre), Umuahia, in 1986. He was the
doctor in charge, Rural Health Centre, Kafin Koro in Niger State, and later as
medical officer, City Clinic, Suleja/Kafin Koro Annex, all between 1987
and1989. He later relocated to Lagos in 1989 and was engaged by Legus
Specialist Hospital, Igbobi, as a medical officer. He worked for only one year
and joined the services of Life Support Medical Centre, GRA, Ikeja, also as a
medical officer and worked from 1990 to1992. He obtained an Associate
Fellowship of the Postgraduate Medical College at the Postgraduate Medical
College of Nigeria in 1992.
He returned to Enugu in 1992 and was appointed
Registrar, Ophthalmology at the Department of Ophthalmology, University of
Nigeria Teaching Hospital. He grew progressively and rose to the position of
Chief Resident Ophthalmologist in 1994. He occupied this position until 1996
when he was appointed Consultant Ophthalmologist, Federal Medical Centre, FMC,
Umuahia.
Dr. Chuku later proceeded to West African College of
Surgeons and obtained the Fellowship of West African College of Surgeons in
1996.
By 2000, he became Consultant Specialist Grade II
and later Consultant Specialist Grade I, Ophthalmologist also at the FMC,
Umuahia, in 2004. He was the Head of Department of Ophthalmology at the FMC,
Umuahia, for 14 years.
The icing on the cake
of Dr Chuku’s soaring career was his appointment in May 2011 as Chief Medical
Director, FMC, Umuahia.
How
his journey to FMC, Umuahia began
His first contact with the Federal Medical Centre,
Umuahia, was as a young doctor, an intern, he had been offered an appointment
in the hospital then known as the Queen Elizabeth Specialist Hospital. The
hospital gave him the opportunity to put into practice his freshly acquired
knowledge as a doctor and also the opportunity to shed the very heavy ego that
often comes with leaving medical school. “It was the real world; colours were
not always brilliant but sometimes in shades. Things were not always beautiful
and joyful, but sometimes ugly, mean and may even be tainted with
wickedness.
Hospital’s
background
“The
Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia came into existence in November 1991. It
metamorphosed from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital which was commissioned on March
24, 1956 by Sir Clement Pleas representing Queen Elizabeth II of England. It
started as a joint mission hospital administered by the Methodist, Anglican and
Presbyterian churches.
“It is a 327-bed tertiary hospital, occupying 77 acres
of land. It is one of the leading health care providers in south eastern
Nigeria. The facility is centrally located and readily accessible from Enugu,
Imo, Rivers, Ebonyi, Akwa-Ibom and Anambra States. The hospital clients and
patients are drawn from all over the country but predominantly from the
south-east and south-south regions of the country.’
Mission Statements:
“The mission of the hospital
as the foremost Federal Medical Centre is to provide specialized and
comprehensive health care services to our clients using modern equipment,
research and training through highly motivated manpower operating in a friendly
and conducive environment that reflects our antecedent as a missionary
hospital.”
Vision:
“The vision of the hospital
presently is to by end of 2015, improve the quality of existing services;
increase our level of research, and the scope and depth of training. Presenting
the Federal Medical Centre Umuahia as an attractive health tourist
destination,” he added.
He
maintained that: “Though a 327 bed hospital, as of 1996, it could only boast of
five consultants and yearly streams of interns to augment services. Life at the
hospital was simple and basic, patients expected much but doctors had little to
offer. Investigations were basic and shallow and diagnoses were based mostly on
clinical acumen and physical examination. Without the internet and the
Nollywood film industry, the physicians were the glamour and the desire of
every family was to have a doctor.
“After a
year of internship in 1987 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Umuahia, and a year
of national youth Service, years of residency training, I returned in 1996 to
the Queen Elizabeth Hospital now known as the Federal Medical Centre Umuahia.
Like most establishments under government, decay had set in and hospitals had
become mere consulting clinics. With each year that passed by, the situation
got worse as each machine that could not be maintained failed and materials
that could not be replenished ran out. The decay in our universities also meant
poorer quality of doctors produced as hands-on trainings were limited to what
were available. The cascade downwards became viciously unhindered.
“The picture
before my appointment was that of poor staff morale, gadgets were obsolete or
unavailable. Judgment was mostly based on clinical acumen devoid of
investigative support. Accommodation was inadequate and inappropriate, and ethics
eroded. Perception of hospitals in the mind of the public was that of a place
of last resort. Electricity power was erratic and inadequate with more hours of
outage than power. Exodus of doctors to foreign shores was considerable,
further escalating the already precarious situation. The Nokia phone with pen
touch capabilities became a very useful gadget for nurses on night shift. This
age had very little technological penetration and internet exposure. A few private hospitals were better off than
government owned hospitals but were more expensive, sadly, those that could not
afford these private facilities had to choose between the government hospitals,
patent medicine dealers or, traditional medicine vendors. Imagine sweating it
out in a two-hour surgery, drenched in sweat, as the air conditioners had failed,
and probably salaries were yet to be paid weeks after they were due.
“I was to
take over from my predecessor, Dr. Onuoha on May 9, 2011, sadly that take over
ceremony did not hold on that date. The Chairman of the Board of management had
questioned why I had been appointed. He even suggested that the letter I had
received from the President was fakes. He could not fathom how with all the
plans and scheming, I could still attract sympathy from the President. My only
offence according to him, was I had been appointed before then, chairman of an
anti-corruption unit that to him meant I was not a good material. In his words,
I was too good for the system and that he held nothing personal against me.
Eventually under threat of being dropped as chairman, he succumbed and so on
May 16, 2011, I took my oath of office.
“How does
one run a 327 bed hospital on a 77 acres of land, 1500 staff, with a chairman
of board clearly antagonistic who by the way could exercise veto powers on
every voting call? The board drama was intense and vicious, and progress very
slow as substantial time was spent brokering peace.
“We had put
in place every known strategy to block leakages and corruption that led us to
mind blowing discoveries. Interventions were put in place to address the issues
as they were discovered and of course this did not go down well with those that
benefited from the defects. On October 31, 2011, I got shot,” he explained.
Assassination attempt on Chuku’s life
He has faced
many deadly challenges in his career including an assassination attempt on his
life, five months after he was appointed as the Chief Medical
Director, FMC, Umuahia.
He shares
his experience: “On October 31, 2011, about 7.10pm, I was in a meeting. I was
tired and ill. The meeting was summoned by the Honourable Minister of Health in
an attempt to resolve a crisis that had been on for about three weeks. Seeing
no solution after four hours of talks, I suggested why not we all go home and
come back the following day surely God would touch our hearts to cause us to
agree the following day. We all agreed being a welcomed relief from the
fruitless debates.
“I got home
about 7.30pm, got to the trunk of my car to pick up some stuff I had brought
home from the office and a man cladded in a long coat approached me. It was a
bit dark and I could not quite make out his face. The man shot me twice with a
double barrel gun. The first shot from about two metres and a second standing
right over me. Then he fled into a near-by bush.
“My wife and
kids rushed out to me, where I laid in a pool of blood. I thought “Oh God is
this the end?” I had had barely five months on the job as Medical Director of
the Federal Medical Centre Umuahia, one of Nigeria’s 56 federal tertiary health
facilities, when this unfortunate incidence took place. I had a vision and a
strategy but such don’t count much in a country where corruption is the norm. I
dared to confront corruption in my little way and took two bullets for doing
so. Now, I am more determined than ever. I spent several months in a London
hospital receiving the best of care as a patient. What an opportunity and a
lesson it was,” he said.
Chuku tells
us another story of how he almost died three years ago. “On January 4, 2012,
about 1 am, I came close to death, my blood pressure had fallen to 60/40mmHg
and my pulse was about 140 beats per minute. I had just had surgery that was
supposed to last 45 minutes but instead lasted 3 hours 15 minutes. A gentleman
in another private room had just been certified dead by my attending physician
who had inadvertently aired her fear of losing two patients that night. Was I
to be the second patient? I naturally did what humans do under such situations,
I was afraid and I prayed. After a few minutes into my prayer, I told God.
”This isn’t fair.” I was moved to tears as I thought of my family and having to
leave them so soon. I became quiet. In that quietness all of a sudden, I felt a
wave of peace it felt good, that, I had to pinch myself to know whether I was
still alive. The bandages convinced me
that I was nowhere close to heaven but still on my hospital bed. Surely, God
would not allow bandages in heaven.
“Realizing I
was alive, I made a promise to God that in exchange for this life, I would put
in my best as Medical Director, to improve access to healthcare for my people
and replicate the services I had enjoyed in England.”
According to
him, “Often times on an errand for humanity, the journey may starts off fairly
smooth, then could get rather turbulent, and maybe even life threatening. As
long as the boat does not capsize, and there is life, the journey continues. I
am comforted in the knowledge that the Lord could break his prayers for my
sake.
“The journey
continues”.
Positions held
In
the course of his career, Dr. Chuku has, over the years, also carried out
assignments at different levels or fora either as chairman of ad-committees or
member of many committees. Between 2003 and 2007 he was the Chairman, Medical
Advisory Committee, FMC, Umuahia. He also held the underlisted positions
concurrently during the same period.
·
Chairman,
Laboratory Services Commercialised Committee
·
Chairman,
X-ray Services Commercialised Committee
·
Chairman,
Drug Revolving Fund
·
Chairman,
Housing Committee
·
Chairman,
Servicom
·
In
2008, he was appointed Chairman, Anti-Corruption and Transparency Monitoring
Unit, FMC, Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission.
He holds the position to date.
·
In
2009, he was appointed Co-ordinator, Abia State Programme for Prevention of
Blindness. He still holds the position.
Dr.
Chuku is a member of the following professional bodies:
·
American
Academy of Ophthalmology (2004)
·
Oxford
Ophthalmology Congress (2009)
·
Ophthalmological
Society of Nigeria
·
Glaucoma
Society, Nigeria
He
has attended many professional courses, training programmes, seminars, and
conferences in both Nigeria and abroad, including American Academy of
Ophthalmology Conferences which he consistently attended from 2004 to 2011. He
is also a recipient of many awards including:
·
Best
handwriting (1973) Bruce Grove Primary School, Tottenham, England.
·
Second
Prize, Musical Instrument Design of the Future, Northumberland Park School,
Tottenham, England (1975).
·
Mayflower
School, Ikenne Roll of Honours 1980 Distinction in 10 subjects.
·
Best
Resident in Ophthalmology, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Nigeria
Teaching Hospital, Enugu 1980.
·
Dr.
Chuku is also a recipient of a number of international education awards, such
as American Academy of Ophthalmology in 2008 as well as International Scholar
Award, American Academy of Ophthalmology in 2012.
He
is an Honorary Fellow, Chartered Institute of Purchase and Supply Management,
Nigeria.
Dr.
Chuku has undertaken numerous researches in his field of medicine and has
published widely in learned medical journals. His extra-curricular activities
include chess, table tennis, music, reading and poetry.
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