Provost of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Professor Emiola Olapade-Olaopa, has declared that the controversies sorrounding the N118m financial support given by the Oyo State government to the College to fight COVID-19 have been resolved.
There have been accusations and counyer-accusations over the exact amount given by the Governor Seyi Makinde-led administration to the medical institution, through the Department of Virology, to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking on ‘Parrot Xtra Hour On Radio’, anchored by Olayinka Agboola, on Tuesday, the provost said there was no more reason for anybody to doubt what transpired.
According to him, “there is no more explanation to give because officials of the state government said they gave the money and materials to some people at the Department of Virology and those concerned did not deny receiving such. So, do we still have reasons to engage in any explanation again?”
“There would have been a problem if those fingered as the receivers had denied. Now, I don’t think there is any more issue to be discussed on this.”
The Ibadan-born Professor of Urology also took time to explain the difference between the University College Hospital and the University of Ibadan’s College of Medicine.
“The University College Hospital is part of the University of Ibadan. It was set up to train healthcare practitioners. It is a ‘laboratory’. However, today, UCH falls directly under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Health. The University of Ibadan, including the College of Medicine, is being supervised by the Federal Ministry of Education.
“However, I will say it here that most of the stars, the doctors, specialists and professors you go to see in UCH, including the Chief Medical Director (CMD), are from the College of Medicine.”
He also cautioned Nigerians against the culture of self-medication, insistinh that his college is the best medical school in sub-Saharan Africa and added that care must be taken in consumption of traditional medicine because the people do not usually know the exact contents for quality control and assurance.
“I am not saying that our local herbs do not work, but the traditional medical practitioners never really do not tell people the contents of their products. So, when patients come in from them, it becomes a problem for us to continue managing such patients,” he said.
A consultant urologist, Professor Olapade-Olopa said there were many causes of prostrate cancer in men above 50 years old, but stated that inadequate sexual intercourse is not responsible for the disease.
“I don’t think so. We have seen people whose lifestyles do not include having sex, yet they do not have prostate cancer. Our men should not use this excuse to be messing around,” he added.
Olapade-Olaopa, while hailing the efforts of medical practitioners in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, said little knowledge of the virus, insufficient human and material resources, among others, were the challenges facing medical healthcare workers generally.
The provost, who is also a COVID-19 survivor, said he could not accurately identify how he contracted the disease or what exactly cured him, but added that he only isolated himself for the required number of days, ate well and became COVID-19 negative afterwards.
He therefore advised other COVID-19 patients to following same routine, whether they show the symptoms or not.
Speaking on the process for a replacement for the outgoing Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Olapade-Olopa, an indigene of Ibadan, said he was qualified for the post, but the time was not rope for him to talk.
“I am more than qualified for the post but it is not yet time to talk about it. Yes, my name must come up as you said. People have mentioned my name and to me, this is normal because I have been in medical profession for some 36 years,” he added.
Leave a Reply