Licensing medical practice

The 53-year-old Indian was in the middle of a craniotomy (brain surgery) in the hospital’s operating theatre when policemen and MDCN’s inspectorate officials and tried to whisk him away, but were persuaded by the medical director to wait for the complex operation to be over first.  Dr Basina had apparently worked at the Asokoro Hospital […]

The 53-year-old Indian was in the middle of a craniotomy (brain surgery) in the hospital’s operating theatre when policemen and MDCN’s inspectorate officials and tried to whisk him away, but were persuaded by the medical director to wait for the complex operation to be over first.  
Dr Basina had apparently worked at the Asokoro Hospital for months during which he applied for a license in August 2013. The hospital’s official said that the MDCN was yet to process Basina’s application because the council said a response from their Indian counterpart, the India Medical Regulating Agency, on Dr Basina’s professional status, was still pending.  
In his interaction with the regulatory officials, according to statements made public by the regulatory officials, Basina said he qualified in the United States. He also noted that the process of securing a license to practice in Nigeria was long and cumbersome, compared to the US, where it may take only a few day, according to the statements.
The issues involved are whether Dr Basina is properly licensed to practice in Nigeria, and whether the MDCN was fair in its handling of his application for such a permit.
Quackery in the medical profession should be taken seriously; this case therefore requires a thorough review to be done by a independent panel that must include non-MDCN officials.
If Dr Basina’s employment by the Federal Capital Territory Administration, which deployed him to the Asokoro District Hospital, was based on false bona fides, he would be an excellent and untrained brain surgeon not to have any public complaint against him or his work since. Indeed, he was so good at it that his contract with the government was renewed.
There seems to be more to this case than the MDCN is letting on. If the regulatory officials had been aware of Dr Basina’s alleged status, why would they want to invade the operating theatre to take him a patient whose life probably hung in the balance in those critical moments?
They could simply have informed the government about their fears; apparently they did not.
Any panel investigating this incident, including Dr Basina’s qualifications and the status of his application to the MDCN should recommend sanctions where appropriate, both ways.
Because the issue has wider implications, particularly its potential impact on the recruitment of foreign medical specialists to handle emerging conditions for which the country does not have sufficient doctors, a different panel by the National Assembly should look into it too.
The legislative panel should first establish whether Dr Basina is qualified. If he is not, then the next step would be to examine the process that led to his being employed by the FCTA. If on the hand the panel determines that Dr Basina is in fact qualified but is only a victim of some intrigues with the MDCN, the panel should establish why it is taking the council such a long time to process Basina’s application for a practice license.