In a heartbreaking incident that has sparked outrage across Nigeria, a man named UB Shehu lost his wife during a surgical operation at the Jummai Babangida Aliyu General Hospital in Minna, Niger State. The tragedy unfolded when the hospital experienced a power outage midway through the procedure, and the backup generator failed due to a lack of fuel.
According to Shehu, the surgery had been going smoothly for about 35 minutes when the electricity supply was suddenly cut. Shockingly, the hospital’s generator, expected to provide immediate backup, was discovered to be without fuel. By the time fuel was sourced and the generator was restarted — which also required a mechanic’s intervention — precious time had been lost.
The operation, initially scheduled to last around 90 minutes, dragged on for hours under these grim circumstances. Sadly, Shehu’s wife could not survive the ordeal.
Shehu shared his painful experience on Facebook, expressing deep sorrow and highlighting the neglect that led to his wife’s death. His story has since gone viral, sparking widespread condemnation of the state of healthcare infrastructure in Nigeria, particularly the reliability of emergency support systems in public hospitals.
This tragic event underscores a critical and urgent need for Nigerian authorities to prioritize healthcare reforms. It also raises an important question: how many more lives must be lost before the system is fixed?
At the heart of every healthcare institution should be a commitment to saving lives — not losing them to preventable failures.