OPINION: Joy Ezeugwu: What Is The Price Of Truth in Enugu?

Where I grew up in Ugbene, we have a street slang: ‘photo no dey lie.’ You do not break the mirror just because you don’t like the reflection. But that is exactly what Ezzy International College of Nursing has done by handing an indefinite suspension to Joy Ezeugwu.

Joy’s “sin” was not that she lied. Her sin was that she held up a camera and showed the world the face of Uwani Health Centre which is located in Enugu. She showed us a facility that is supposed to be a place of healing but looks more like a monument to neglect.

Her video did not manufacture reality. It revealed it. A labour ward without electricity. No water. No oxygen. A woman in labour, left to the mercy of darkness and improvisation. These are not abstract governance debates. They are matters of life and death.

I understand professional ethics and governance. I know that nursing is a disciplined profession. But any set of ethics that demands silence while the system rots is not ethics; it is a gag order.

The indefinite suspension of Joy is not teaching her how to be a better nurse; rather, the school is inadvertently teaching every other student that if they see something wrong, they should look the other way.

Is that the kind of medical professional we want to produce? Nurses who are more afraid of their principals than they are of poor hygiene?

I believe this time calls for a moment of leadership from the Enugu State Governor. Mr. Governor, you have spoken often about the “New Enugu” and your “Disruptive Innovation” agenda. Innovation cannot survive in a culture of secrecy. You cannot fix what you are not allowed to see.

The people surrounding this case are trying to protect the image of the state by punishing a young girl. But the image of Enugu isn’t tarnished by a viral video; it is tarnished by a hospital that isn’t fit for our people.

Joy Ezeugwu represents the energy of the youth you have called upon to help build this state. She has the Eye Witness spirit, the courage to speak up when things are not right. Instead of letting her career be buried under the weight of an ego-driven suspension, bring her to the table. Use her report as a blueprint for what needs to change at Uwani Health Centre.

Nigeria is currently losing its best brains to the Japa syndrome. When we have a young, passionate student who actually cares enough to demand better for her community, we shouldn’t be showing her the exit door.
Reinstate Joy. Fix Uwani Health Center. Let the truth be the medicine we all need.

Young Ozogwu is an Abuja based public commentator. You can contact him on young.ozogwu@gmail.com

OPINION: Joy Ezeugwu: What Is The Price Of Truth in Enugu? is first published on The Whistler Newspaper