[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n the gallery of great leaders and great men, Dr (Chief) Dennis M.C Amafor is without doubt a rare masterpiece. He stands as strong as the cedar of Lebanon, neither by his knowledge nor his wisdom alone, but also by his keen reflex, his courage and his bull-like determination to pursue a people-driven cause. He is an exceptional family man who cares for his family members as well as those who are lucky to come his way. He has encouraged mostly youths to embrace education and has continued to empower all those fortunate to come his way. He is that affluent man who uses his God given wealth to better the lives of his people and sacrifices his own pleasure and comfort for the sake of his community.

In this exclusive interview with Grassroots Publishers, he stressed on the need for improvement of health sector in Nigeria; and how important it is for Nigerian youths to embrace hardwork for the betterment of their lives and that of their country.

Excerpts:

Can we meet you sir?

I am Dr (Chief) Dennis M.C Amafor. I hail from Ukala-Okpuno in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State. A Clinical Pharmacist in Delta State with almost 40 years experience in many countries; taught in many universities. I am the MD/CEO, Helt Hospitale Limited, Asaba. I think by now, I should have retired but we professionals do not retire. I will retire maybe by 102 or 112years by God’s grace.

Nigeria is talking about diversification of the economy and we know that you have contributed so much to the development of Nigeria as a nation especially in the health sector. What inspired you sir?

Actually before now, I was thinking about doing everything abroad but my first experience abroad was not very comfortable because I have always been a home boy. I was nurtured in the village; grew up in Lagos, Sapele and so on. So it is not easy to adapt in a foreign country. I will feel misplaced. I was not very comfortable outside Nigeria. In the first place, you will not see somebody to greet you “Onowu” in the streets of Houston or Washington. You will not even see anybody to greet you “Aje” or call you “Ogbuenyi” in London and you keep having this feeling of being in another man’s land. What I am saying now can be testified by what is happening in South Africa now. You can’t be comfortable in South Africa and because of the laws of creation; we have reasons for being created in where we are. So, our origin represents our culture, tradition, language, the type of food we eat, our attire and so on. As a matter of fact, Nigeria is the best place to do business because you understand the culture, language of virtually every tribe in Nigeria and so you can interact very well. I don’t need to go to America before I can do business. But the problem here is that in Nigeria there is brain drain and that was one of the things that discouraged me to leave Nigeria. We are blessed in Nigeria but who will develop it. We have potentials in Nigeria that is why I, for instance can cope and do business in any county I find myself in today because I know the potentials I possess. We have to stay home and develop our country.

You have much enthusiasm for cultural development and philanthropism. What is your inspiration sir?

My enthusiasm for cultural development is 100% but philanthropism is according to my financial capacity. You cannot be a philanthropist when you are starving or when you have numerous people to carter for. But still, you must not spend millions for you to record your name as a philanthropist. I can always willingly offer someone who is in distress a certain amount of money as a way of charity; not really beggars you know because most beggars in Nigeria are even richer than an average poor person. They claim to have one problem or the other which they don’t have. U know one thing, philanthropy has different motives and levels. Someone may decide to show philanthropy because he wants to evade tax, some do it because they want to deceive the world, or for advertisement so that they will give you a Chieftaincy title. No. I don’t do mine because I want to evade tax or because I want to blow my trumpet. Most of the philanthropic activities I do, I don’t record it. I don’t do it to get praises from humans rather I do it to get reward from God.

For cultural development, I am a staunch supporter of culture and tradition. The God who created me knows why he positioned me at Ukala-Okpuno. Culture comprises of our language, attire, the kind of food we eat and so on. You cannot enjoy foreign food as much as you enjoy your traditional food. I must tell you that my culture is my life. We should try as much as possible to embrace and practice our culture always because that is what we are known with.

Your medical outfit, Helt Hospitale is a household name in Asaba and Delta state generally. What is the secret sir?

I have always told people, don’t dabble into what you know you cannot do and that which you can do, do it very well. It is one thing to go to school and another to go to your family education. Your family education is what leads, assists and directs you through what you do in life. Most of the miscreants on the streets lack home training and so become nuisance to the society. If you go to school, it does not change you. It only teaches you a particular subject but cannot teach you the world. Dr Vincent in his positive thinking said “The world is the University of Hard Rocks”. If you want to have your training, go into the street and know how to live in the world but you must have a tabular reserve; a platform from which you can interpret whatever you learn. If you didn’t have a good background and you are a Pharmacist, you will not be a good Pharmacist. You will interpret Pharmacy in terms of banditry if you are a bandit; stealing if you are a thief, fraud if you are a fraudster but if you have a sound home training, you will interpret Pharmacist in a genuine term. For instance if I am attending to a patient, I am praying for the person while I prescribe because if the patient does not get well I feel I am a failure. More Health care practitioners don’t care, they run after money. They tell all sorts of lies because of money. But I keep telling people; if you run after money, you will fail. Let money run after you. Money runs after quality too not even quantity, not even fraud. You can fool everybody sometimes, fool some people all the time but you cannot fool everybody every time. For instance in my company, I don’t have anything to hide. If am selling a drug to you, you will see both the cost price and the selling price. My father used to tell me that honesty is the best key in any business. My honesty makes my business grow and the secret of my success is slow and steady.

You are a renowned Health Practitioner who has been into the health sector for almost 40 years. How can you rate the Nigerian health sector standard?

The standard of health sector in Nigeria reflects your own standard. A people’s prayer is to get what they pray for. Our collective prayer here mostly is to be rich by all means even by corruption. But I believe in the word that says “reap corruption and reap low health standard”. If someone is made a Commissioner of Health, your people will rejoice with you because you have entered wealth. How do you want the health standard to improve when you see some doctors that are on call referring patients to their private hospitals just to make their own money to the detriment of what they signed for? Can the health standard improve with this kind of operation? No. Until the health workers, health practitioners, etc begin to realize that their jobs is mostly a selfless service to humanity; until they learn not to be greedy; until the government begin to contribute its own quota in the health sector, our health standard in this country will continue to fall.

What is your legacy sir?

My legacy is to let people know that you don’t need to pursue money. Do the things that will make money look for you because if you pursue money, you will never meet it because it is the fastest runner. But when you do the things that will make money pursue you, money will see you because it has a very good sight; it will run to you. That is the position I am.

Published by: Grassroots Publishers