Posted by By Niyi Odebode on
The family of a former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Victor Malu, who is on admission at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Lagos, on Friday began moves to take him abroad for further treatment.
The family of a former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Victor Malu, who is on admission at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Lagos, on Friday began moves to take him abroad for further treatment.
Sources at the hospital told Saturday Punch that the family planned to take the former chief of army staff to a London hospital. The sources, however, said doctors in charge of his case had advised the family to allow his condition to stabilise.
'As he is now, he cannot make any journey. They have been advised that he should be allowed to recuperate before taking him abroad for treatment. His case can be handled in the hospital,' a doctor told Saturday Punch. Malu, who was admitted on September 25, is suffering from Type Two diabetes. He is being kept at the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital's private wing.
Our correspondent gathered that the doctors handling his case urged the family to allow them a few days to stabilise his condition before flying him abroad. They reasoned that Malu might not be able to make a long trip by air unless he was restored to a reasonable condition of health.
The doctors' appeal stemmed from the family's fear that he might not receive good treatment in Nigeria, a source said. The source added that the former army boss was no longer on oxygen but that his condition was being closely monitored.
When contacted, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Prof. Akin Osibogun, declined comments on Malu's case. The private wing was inaugurated by the Minister of Health, Dr. Hassan Lawal, to care for the elite, who prefer travelling abroad for medical treatment. It is better equipped and more expensive than other wards.
A national newspaper had reported on Friday that Malu fell into a coma and was rushed to the hospital.
In a related development, LUTH's Joint Health Sector Unions, on Friday, threatened to go on strike in the next seven days over the failure of the Federal Government to pay their members' monetisation arrears. The workers issued a communiqué after their meeting in the hospital. They also sent a copy of the communiqué to the national officers of the unions.
The Chairman of LUTH's branch of Medical and Health Workers Union, Mr. Isiaka Busari, said the unions had, some months ago, planned to embark on a three-day strike. He said the strike was shelved because of an appeal by the government. According to the communiqué, a move to defer the payment of the arrears to 2009 is against an agreement reached by the workers with the government.
The workers called on the national bodies of the unions to reactivate the suspended strike within seven days. They said, 'The leaders at the branch level (LUTH) will have no option than to obey the mandate of our members who have lost patience and lives waiting for their arrears after the expiration of the seven days ultimatum.' The workers said their counterparts, who work in the ministry of health, had been paid the monetisation arrears.