The Nigerian medical community is once again in mourning following the tragic death of Dr. Oluwafemi Rotifa, a young resident doctor at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH), who collapsed and died after reportedly working a gruelling 72-hour call duty.
GRASSROOTS PARROT gathered that the deceased fondly known as Femoski among his peers was a former President of the Port Harcourt University Medical Students’ Association (PUMSA) and was registered with the UK’s General Medical Council (GMC), awaiting placement abroad.
According to eyewitness accounts, the doctor had been on continuous duty in the hospital’s Emergency Room for three days before retiring to the call room to rest. He reportedly slumped there and could not be revived, despite being rushed to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
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Confirming the incident, the President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr. Tope Osundara, described the death as preventable and a painful indictment of Nigeria’s failing healthcare system.
“He was on call in the Emergency Room and later went to the call room to rest. Unfortunately, he never woke up. He was the only one attending to patients. The overuse of manpower strained his health and led to this painful death. It was a death on duty,” Osundara lamented.
He stressed that the burnout crisis facing Nigerian doctors has reached alarming levels, warning that unless government urgently addresses welfare, manpower shortages and working conditions, similar tragedies will continue to occur.
“The few doctors left in this country are overworked, underpaid and poorly motivated. Government must improve remuneration and ensure immediate replacement of doctors who resign or emigrate. Otherwise, this cycle of needless deaths will continue,” he said.
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Osundara further warned that the consequences extend beyond the doctors themselves.
“We are not just asking for reforms for our own welfare, but for patients. A doctor who is mentally and physically broken cannot give quality care. Patients end up waiting hours for attention, and ultimately, they are the ones who suffer most,” he added.
Tributes have since flooded social media for the late Dr. Rotifa, with colleagues and friends remembering him as a diligent, selfless and passionate doctor whose life was cut short by a system he served faithfully.
Sadly, his death adds to a growing list of young Nigerian doctors who have died in the line of duty:
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In December 2022, Dr. Ahmed Isaiah collapsed during surgery in Nasarawa and died days later. In August 2023, Dr. Vwaere Diaso, a house officer at Lagos Island General Hospital, lost her life in a faulty elevator accident.
Also in Benin City, Dr. Okeoghene Edigba, a Senior Registrar, collapsed after back-to-back surgeries and could not be revived.
Doctors across the country are now demanding urgent reforms, questioning why, in 2025, young medical professionals should still be dying from exhaustion and systemic neglect.
Vanguard
