THE DANGER POSED BY QUACKS  

Regulators must be alive to their responsibilities

Findings of the Lagos State House of Assembly, on the circumstances that led to the disappearance of late Adebola Akin-Bright’s small intestine have once again brought to fore the danger posed by quacks in critical areas of our national life. The medical doctor reportedly told the committee that he did not carry out any medical examination before performing surgery on the deceased patient. From fake pharmacists whose prescriptions are often fatal to fake teachers whose pupils/students are candidates for failure to fake journalists who write to blackmail, it would appear as if it were difficult to distinguish between genuine and fake professionals in our country today with all the dire implications for the society. Such is the level of decay that when an ordinary Nigerian walks into a hospital, they would be lucky to find a ‘doctor’ to attend to them let alone finding out if the ‘doctor’ is in fact an impostor or a glorified ward attendant.  

In 2016, a fake medical doctor was discovered to have served in the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) for nine years. To worsen matters, the fake doctor rose to Grade Level 13 in the ministry and had worked in the Departments of Hospital Services and Health Planning Research and Statistics (HPRS) before he was eventually detected as a fraud. According to the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, the quack doctor secured his fraudulent employment by using the stolen documents of his childhood friend and best man who happened to be a medical doctor. With that, he was offered appointment by the commission on 30th August 2006 and was posted to the Federal Ministry of Health in September same year.  

Many make claims they cannot substantiate and there are no consequences while the media cannot be exonerated from this national parade of shame. When people arrange for some of these dubious titles or certificates, especially politicians, the media immediately begin to address them by these bogus labels – ‘Professor’, ‘Doctor’, ‘Engineer,’ etc. Soon it becomes a manner of speaking and the rest is added on. In 2018, the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara lamented that quacks had infiltrated the engineering profession in Nigeria with “all kinds of persons” now parading themselves as engineers.” The resultant effect, according to Dogara, is that “our lives are put at risk by collapsed buildings and potholed roads as well as failing equipment and machines, among others.” Unfortunately, the same thing can be said of many other professions.  

Even when Nigeria is not in lack of professionals in any field of human endeavour, the failure of the regulatory agencies to properly perform their supervisory roles has given way to situations where quacks have taken over in most industries. In Nigeria today, fake policemen are all over the place, doing damage to both the institution and the society just as fake soldiers are rampant. In fact, there is hardly any professional field today where these fraudsters have not invaded.  

However, if our society must advance, we must deal with this quackery that is so pervasive. But more worrisome is the realisation that many top decision makers in our public services are people who conned their way into critical positions without the qualifications they claimed. Underlining the danger that impostors pose to the system, a former Chief Justice of Nigeria once said: “Indeed, judges find it difficult to identify which counsel, appearing before them, is genuine or otherwise. Of even greater concern is the fact that members of the public are often left in a quandary over who they can place their trust, property and even lives in.”  

We call on the regulatory authorities, including professional bodies, to put in place measures that will checkmate the antics of these fraudsters.