As Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, spoke in Ethiopia on the sidelines
of the 38th African Union Summit, I visualized bitter truths and enshrines
that have been ignored for too long. I “saw” the sorry state of Mpilo General Hospital
and other badly underfunded public institutions across the nation that are ill and brittle.
“Africa cannot continue to rely solely on donor funding and foreign aid,
which, although helpful, are often unpredictable and unsustainable,” she said.
As Senator Oluremi Tinubu stressed that a healthy continent is a wealthy continent,
I reflected on African leaders’ notoriety for health tourism, not for being independent.
