Nurses And Politics In Nigeria: Who And What Will Catalyze It?

Good day my esteemed professional colleagues.

My name is Smart Madu Ajaja.

I am a US-based Registered Nurse with professional and service experiences in general, Orthopedic, industrial, correctional and oncology nursing.
I am also a writer, philosopher, motivational speaker, public policy commentator and Human and environmental Rights activist with interests in socioeconomic, civil and criminal, and environmental justice.

I am humbled and honored to be in your midst.

The discourse that brought us together is quite apt, timely and compelling, and at the end of it, I am hopeful that we will get inspired to go back to the drawing board to rethink nursing and nursing practice in Nigeria.

I am not going to give a lengthy speech beyond the introduction of myself I gave you about myself. I will prefer to make this an interactive encounter so everybody would be involved.

Now let’s proceed by doing a quick self professional audit;

Do we agree that we nurses are a group of repressed professionals?

Do we also agree that there’s a fundamental problem with the nursing education curriculum that assaults our basic human rights?

Do we also agree that we should push for a review of the nursing education curriculum in Nigeria to adapt it to our peculiar environment to meet the 21st century challenges and advancements in line with global best practices?

Are nurses fully in charge of policy formulation, analysis and implementation in Nigeria for the good of nurses and the nursing profession?

Are we in agreement that there is a compelling need to clamor for change in our situation?

Now that we have identified all these, what do we do?

I posit that as long as we continue to have the slave nursing education curriculum, nurses will continue to be a population of abused and chronic emotionally traumatized people.

Nurses have suffered and will continue to suffer indignation for their failure in the past to be involved in politics unless something is done now to inspire them to raise their consciousness to act in their profession’s best interest or people who have no idea about their professional struggle will continue to jeopardize them and their profession with ridiculous policies that would continually make them subjects of subjugation in the clinical environment where they are the pivots.

The reason we are where we are is because nurses have never had the luxury of having anyone who knows about the challenges nurses face daily in the hostile clinical environment in Nigeria speaking for them and the nursing profession.

Therefore, with the above and many more indications  for taking action, I have decided to become the catalyst nurses need to launch nursing in Nigeria into the 21st century, and I vow to draw more nurses into the mainstream of Nigerian politics so they can be where decisions affecting Nigeria including their profession are made.

In effect, I wish to use this medium to officially announce to you my professional colleagues and the whole of the Nigerian nursing community that I am running a race to the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the platform of the APC whose party primaries comes up on August 17, 2018.

I am therefore passionately calling upon Nigerian nurses to line behind me in tandem with other Nigerians whose messages I carry on this historic journey to make me the first Nurse-Senator in Nigeria.

I believe that we can accomplish this ambitious aspiration through hard work, faith in ourselves and the power of God, to bring to fruition, via actionable legislations, most if not everything we have discussed here tonight.

God bless the Nigerian Nurse and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Questions and ResponsesResponses

1. I know you gonna be a Senator, not just for nurses but for Nigeria, and I pray that your heart desires to come through...

Before I ask my question(s), I'd love to appreciate your vision, and the courage to come into the limelight, and serves as an illumination for people to follow, more power to you sir.
You have highlighted some important points to which some I agree and to others I don't...

Knowingly, that if you win this senatorial election, you ain't gonna be alone, but how do you intend to work with those that have obviously very little interest about nursing matters.

Response 1.

I have the ability to rally support for what I believe in because I am a communicator. Besides, my proposed colleagues who did not know the challenges nurses face everyday will be better informed and convinced beyond doubts by a nurse than any other person. Above all, we would be all working collectively for the good of Nigeria through a variety of collaborative efforts where they will need my support to accomplish their goals that make sense to me for the overall good of Nigeria.

The job of repositioning nursing in Nigeria will be started by a nurse at the senate and as it stands, I look well positioned kickstart it.

Question 2. 

How could you bridge the gap between nursing and other professions, what are the measures in place to tackle the monopoly issue we face day in, day out. Also, You said you are foreign based, and it's not a bad idea, but are you really in tandem with the immediate nursing problem if you are not too conversant with insults brought upon us, especially those working in the ward.

Response 2.
I have the ability to rally support for what I believe in because I am a communicator. Besides, my proposed colleagues who did not know the challenges nurses face everyday will be better convinced by a nurse than any other person. Above all we would be all working collectively for the good of Nigeria through a variety of collaborative efforts. 

The job of repositioning nursing in Nigeria will be started by a nurse at the senate.

I am a born bridge builder whose best attribute is bringing people together to get things done.
I have forced a federal government policy reversal that had given western Union and Moneygram an undue monopoly that forced indigenous money transfer companies out of business.

I also in 2012, inspired the traditional dethronement of a traditional ruler whose dynasty illegitimately occupied the Royal throne of my hometown of Abavo in Delta state for 21 years.

Thank you all for listening.
Smart Madu Ajaja, RN