MSF and Nigeria…joint at birth

The Nigerian/Biafra war was particularly hard on the civilian population because of food blockades, and massive flows of refugees and internally displaced persons under very precarious circumstances. The Red Cross managed to send some 50 doctors to Biafra. These doctors were driven by a desire to use their professional skills to save as many lives as possible. Among those 5o doctors that sacrificed so much for the survival of our people were the future founders of MSF, including Bernard Kouchner, who later became France’s former Minister of Health and present foreign minister.

The Biafran war clearly revealed the shortcomings of the Red Cross in responding to emergencies. Some of the future founders of MSF opposed Red Cross regulations that forbade the Red Cross staff from making public statements about human rights violations and genocide. ICRC was not entitled to intervene in a country without the approval of the country’s authorities. Several Red Cross doctors defied this prohibition by organizing a “committee against the Biafran genocide” as soon as they were back in France.

The committee argued that medical action should not
be turned into a blind and dumb instrument.

This activity attracted a group of approximately fifty people who were persuaded that conflicts such as Biafra would happen again (how right they were) and needed to be anticipated. Thus, the Biafra veterans began meeting once a month to share and refresh their memories….and the MSF story began. Read details here. Today, MSF’s work is based on the principles of impartiality, operates independently of any political, military, or religious agendas…and most importantly in my opinion commits to Bearing Witness & Speaking Out.

MSF has been working in Nigeria for many years. They ran a Malaria programme in the heart of the Niger Delta as the Nigerian Government and its buddies in the oil industry ignored the people. MSF has been in the lead of the response to almost all outbreaks of infectious disease in Nigeria and notable has been the first to respond to the cycles of Menigitis outbreaks in Northern Nigeria. When HIV/AIDS emerged, MSF again was one of the first organisations that set up treatment centres in the heart of Lagos serving the most underprivildeged in society. Read this incredible story by one of the doctors that volunteered their time…HERE. Presently…they are helping us deal with gunshot wounds at MSF’s Port Harcourt trauma centre.We Nigerians have a lot to be thankful for! Rather than spend their energy and scarce resources on countries that are really poor, they help a country that is extremely rich but has decided to abdicate its responsibility to provide for the health of its population.

I digress…back to the conference.