Any Future is Predictable

I called up a facility outside the country when there was a need to run some toxicology tests in a forensic autopsy I handled, and after making the enquiries I felt some hollow within. It was difficult to accept there was no accredited centre in the entire country where one could carry out some forensic toxicological analyses. We have had many incomplete postmortem examinations due to the absence of basic tests that should be run in such cases to fully understand how death came about. Our efforts at preventive medicine and protection of public health will be futile if we do not fully understand the cause(s) of death. And this is an essential function of the state, to investigate certain deaths and protect public interest. Often, we bypass this limitation by seeking for any changes in the body or any diseases we could attribute death to, but any professional will admit that such is suboptimal and mediocre approach to death investigation. 

What will it cost to establish regional centres in the country equipped with appropriately trained personnel and facilities to do proper forensic medical tests in cases of suspected poisoning or as a routine in a Coroner's death investigation? It is from such data we can objectively evaluate the contribution of alcohol and drugs to the incessant road traffic crashes in Nigeria, and understand the mechanism and causes of some deaths attributable to possible poisoning and other substances. As simple as it appears, we do not even have an established national or state blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit(s), and one wonders what objective parameters could be used to prosecute cases of drunk driving ("luckily" no one gets prosecuted!). 

The federal and state governments at various times have sponsored candidates for studies/training in specialized areas outside the country only for those who return to be frustrated out of the country for lack of tools to work with or for lack of appreciation of their services, and a good number never bother to come back to the country for a variety of reasons, one of which is the prevailing situation. Those who choose to remain often get back to a "steady state" and serve their time in service with stories about what they couldn't do, which their expertise would have enabled them to contribute to nation-building. In the present situation, it is not difficult to predict the future.