Kidney disease crisis in Gashua: An open letter to Governor Buni

Your Excellency, With utmost respect, I write this letter to you as a concerned citizen of Yobe State deeply worried about the growing kidney disease crisis in Gashua and its surrounding communities.  Sir, you have shown great leadership by offering free dialysis and supporting medical research and the people of Yobe are grateful but the […]

Your Excellency,

With utmost respect, I write this letter to you as a concerned citizen of Yobe State deeply worried about the growing kidney disease crisis in Gashua and its surrounding communities. 

Sir, you have shown great leadership by offering free dialysis and supporting medical research and the people of Yobe are grateful but the crisis continues to grow each week, new families are touched by this disease each month, the number of deaths rises and many still wonder whether we are winning this battle. 

Your Excellency, this is not the time to slow down. This is the time to deepen the response to build that kidney specialist hospital you promised, to expand public health campaigns and to strengthen environmental monitoring.

If toxic chemicals and unsafe water are part of the cause, then prevention is as important as treatment.

I appeal to you, sir, to take the kidney disease issue in Gashua as a state emergency. Let us see more awareness programmes in local languages, more screening in rural areas and stronger penalties for anyone who pollutes our water or food sources. Your continued support for research is our hope.

Many other states in Nigeria are now watching how Yobe handles this problem, let our state become an example of compassion and science working together. Please, do not let the story of Gashua become one of forgotten pain. Let it be a story of recovery, of leadership and of a government that listened when its people cried out.

Meanwhile I also want appeal to all Yobe residents that this is not just a government issue, it is a community issue. Everyone must play a part, let us stop using harmful chemicals in farming, avoid unsafe water and food preservatives and get our kidneys tested regularly. Let us encourage research, report unsafe practices and support our local hospitals. Together, we can turn this crisis into change. The people of Gashua are not asking for much only for life, for health and for a future free from fear. The fight against kidney disease in Yobe State is far from over but with unity, leadership and determination, hope is still alive.

 

Dahiru Gambo Dahiru, Kashim Ibrahim University, Maiduguri