The state of the Nigerian economy has gotten so bad that it is beginning to negatively affect the health of those charged with managing it. That was the submission of minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, at the commissioning of the Federal Ministry of Finance Welfare Facilities, including crèche and clinic on Monday, May 4, 2015 alongside the Permanent Secretary of the finance ministry, Anastasia Daniel-Nwaobia.
Okonjo-Iweala said that the thorough search for funds for the ailing economy has started affecting her health and that of some other government workers. The minister explained that most workers in the finance ministry are currently suffering from high blood pressure due to excessive stress at work.
She said that many of the workers in the Finance Ministry – including the minister of state, Bashir Yuguda, and the permanent secretary, Daniel-Nwaobia, had hypertension as confirmed after a recent medical test conducted in the ministry.
The medical tests became necessary after one of the workers in the ministry who had an emergency medical situation was rushed to the hospital and was later diagnosed with high blood pressure according to the permanent secretary.
“It sounds unbelievable. But, it’s true. The three of us are on medication. At times, we have to be in the office as late as 1 a.m. looking for how the country will get money to finance her activities,” Okonjo-Iweala said. She said now that the clinic has been established and certified by the Federal Ministry of Health, the staff can take full advantage of the facility to take care of their health.
After weeks of intensive medical examination by the team, Daniel-Nwaobia said the result showed that more than 70 per cent of the workers were hypertensive as a result of stress at work. She said the decision to establish the clinic and the crèche within the premises of the headquarters of the Ministry became necessary to ensure that the medical needs of the workers were met, while a place would be available for their wards to stay during official hours.
