A disturbing exposé on extortion, conflict of interest, and the quiet undermining of healthcare reforms in Adamawa State.
A quiet but devastating betrayal is unfolding within the walls of Adamawa State’s public hospitals. The very professionals entrusted with healing are, in some cases, becoming agents of patients’ financial ruin and saboteurs of the state’s healthcare reforms. At the heart of this crisis lies a conflict of interest so stark it borders on the absurd: doctors and senior hospital staff are actively discrediting and draining the government facilities where they earn their salaries, all to divert patients—and profits—to their own private clinics, laboratories, and pharmacies.
The Specialist Hospital in Yola stands as a glaring example. Patients arrive seeking affordable and quality care—cornerstones of the present administration’s reform agenda. Instead, many encounter a well-oiled scheme of extraction. They are told, authoritatively, that the hospital laboratory is “unreliable” or that essential drugs are “out of stock.” The solution is always the same: go to a specific private lab or pharmacy outside the hospital.
What is rarely disclosed is that these external outlets are often owned by, or have lucrative kickback arrangements with, the very staff giving these orders.
This is not mere negligence. It is a calculated act of sabotage with three clear victims.
First, the Patient.
Already vulnerable and ill, patients are burdened with exorbitant and unnecessary costs. They pay for transport, inflated prices at designated outlets, and sometimes for substandard or counterfeit drugs. Their trust in the public health system is shattered, and their health reduced to a commodity in a side-business transaction.
Second, the State Government.
The reform efforts of His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Dr. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, to revitalize healthcare are being hollowed out from within. Every patient diverted is a silent vote of no confidence in the system the government is struggling to build. Critical internally generated revenue (IGR), which should maintain equipment and stock pharmacies, is siphoned into private pockets. The state invests in facilities, only for its own employees to publicly label them inadequate—creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of decay.
Third, the Ethical Foundation of Medicine.
The Hippocratic Oath is supplanted by a commercial pact. The doctor-patient relationship, built on trust, is corrupted into a vendor-customer shakedown. This “dual loyalty,” where a physician’s duty to a patient conflicts with personal financial interest, is being resolved in the most unethical manner possible—with public welfare losing every time.
Disturbingly, this is not isolated to Yola. Similar reports are emerging from cottage and general hospitals across the state, suggesting a normalized culture of corruption. The irony is brutal: these individuals collect government salaries to sustain their positions of authority, then use that authority to cripple government service delivery for personal profit. They are, in effect, paid to undermine their own employer.
The Way Forward: Breaking the Cycle
Tinkering at the edges will not suffice. This demands a surgical and systemic response.
1. Mandatory Disclosure and Audit
All public health staff should be required to declare any private medical business interests. A state-led audit must cross-reference these declarations with patient referral patterns to identify conflicts of interest.
2. Undercover Surveillance and “Mystery Patient” Operations
The Ministry of Health, working with anti-corruption agencies, should gather irrefutable evidence through monitored undercover operations.
3. Zero-Tolerance Enforcement
Where guilt is established, consequences must be severe and public: immediate dismissal, prosecution for extortion, and revocation of medical licenses by regulatory bodies. The message must be clear—this is career-ending misconduct.
4. Strengthen the Public Option
Simultaneously, the government must conduct an urgent and transparent audit of in-house pharmacy stocks and diagnostic equipment. The common excuses of “no drugs” or “faulty machines” must be pre-emptively eliminated by ensuring core services are consistently available and functional.
The Adamawa State Government now faces a critical test. Will it allow a cabal within its health sector to continue discrediting reforms and exploiting citizens? Or will it defend its vision, its investment, and—most importantly—its people?
The cure for this malignancy is not more medicine, but more courage: the courage to hold powerful, conflicted insiders accountable. The integrity of Adamawa’s healthcare system—and the credibility of the government’s promises—depend on it.
