The second leg of the serial premiere of the documentary film, UNMASKED: Leadership, Trust and Covid-19 Pandemic in Nigeria will hold Saturday, May 29 at the IITA Conference Centre, Ibadan. Time, 10.30 am.
Aside from the screening of the film produced and directed by the ace filmmaker, Femi Odugbemi, and co-produced and presented by the journalist and media entrepreneur, Kadaria Ahmed, a statement said the event will also feature a conversation on issues around the state of the health system in the country as thrown up in the 95-minute documentary.
With the theme as STOPPING BRAIN DRAIN IN THE HEALTH SECTOR, the conversation will have as special guest of honour Oyo State Governor, Oluseyi Makinde. The keynote speaker is Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, who had also performed same role at the maiden premiere and conversation on May 7 in Lagos.
On the film, UNMASKED…
In giving the background to the production of the documentary, Odugbemi said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has turned the world on its head and hit the world’s most populous black nation Nigeria with predictable ferocity. With its soft underbelly of corruption, poor healthcare infrastructure, weak systems and an ever-increasing number of its population below the poverty line, the impact of Covid-19 Pandemic has been substantial, but could this also be an opportunity for reset?” This is the context in which the conversation will hold on Friday after the documentary has been screened.
Ms. Ahmed, states: “It is the hope of the producers of the documentary that beyond documenting the Nigerian story of covid, Unmasked acts as a catalyst for a conversation on shortcomings in our public health sector that were unmasked by Covid. “
The film’s production and the conversation are facilitated by the support of MacArthur Foundation and PLAC (Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre).
On the Conversation:
The chosen eminent speakers/panellists are: Professor Oyewale Tomori, the consultant Virologist to the World Health Organisation, WHO, who is easily the most renowned expert in the field of virology in the country; Professor Olayinka Omigbodun, the Provost, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, who like Prof Tomori is a well-tested teacher of medical practitioners, as well as the Oyo State Commissioner for Health, Dr Bashir Bello.
Moderator of the conversations, Kadaria Ahmed, former BBC journalist and editor of the defunct, NEXT234, had said that the series, “will center on how the public and private sector can collaborate for the development of a robust and effective public health care system.”
Ahmed, also the co-producer and presenter of the documentary, disclosed that subsequent screening of the documentary will hold in Kano, Kaduna and, perhaps, Port Harcourt.
“In those cities the conversations will revolve around the training and retention of medical personnel in Nigeria and the provisions of basic healthcare as a perquisite for development of a robust human resources.”
In giving the background to the production of the documentary, Odugbemi said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has turned the world on its head and hit the world’s most populous black nation Nigeria with predictable ferocity. With its soft underbelly of corruption, poor healthcare infrastructure, weak systems and an ever-increasing number of its population below the poverty line, the impact of Covid-19 Pandemic has been substantial, but could this also be an opportunity for reset?” This is the context in which the conversation will hold on Friday after the documentary has been screened.
Ms Ahmed, states: “It is the hope of the producers of the documentary that beyond documenting the Nigerian story of covid, Unmasked acts as a catalyst for a conversation on shortcomings in our public health sector that were unmasked by Covid.“
On the theme:
Breaking down the theme, the film director, Odugbemi said it was deliberately chosen to address issues of shortage of personnel and poor training, orientation and remuneration, which the film identified through interviews and interactions with many of the respondents in the docu-feature, produced by Daria Media and Zuri24 Media.
Interviews with many of the protagonists, for instance, showed that majority of medical personnel – doctors, nurses, special care givers, laboratory technicians and even attendants, who remain in service in the country would jump at any slight opportunity to leave the shores of Nigeria for “greener pastures” in other countries.
And this is not just about the matter of poor and sometimes haphazard remuneration and abusive condition of service, it also has to do with general despondency about the working environment, lack of appropriate equipment and facility to work with, poor attitude of political leaders to the interest and welfare of the medical personnel, all of which often lead to frequent strikes and industrial actions by the medical personnel.
“So, we discovered that whereas we spend so much money to train these medical personnel and specialists, we discourage them from remaining in the system. We soon lose them to Canada, UK, US and such other countries. Such was our situation when the pandemic came calling and we had shortage of personnel to serve in the frontline. And even where they were available they had been so disoriented that it was difficult for them to rise up effectively to the occasion,” said Odugbemi, the multiple award-winning story teller and media content creator.
He added that the conversation supplementing the premiere of the film is meant to explore ideas about “how we can stem the tide of brain drain in the heath sector. This crucial issue is to be engaged by the panellists and guests at the event, so we can start a debate about how we can be ready for the next pandemic or health emergencies that are sure to come.”