A young resident doctor at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, Dr. Oluwafemi Rotifa, has died after reportedly working non-stop for 72 hours in the hospital’s emergency unit.
The sad incident has caused anger across the medical community. Rotifa, fondly called Femoski by friends, had gone to rest in the call room after three straight days on duty. He suddenly collapsed and was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit, but all efforts to save him failed.
Reports said the late doctor was once President of the Port Harcourt University Medical Students’ Association. He had also just registered with the UK General Medical Council and was preparing to relocate abroad for a new posting.
Confirming the incident on Tuesday, the President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr. Tope Osundara, said the death was “preventable.” He blamed it on Nigeria’s weak health system and shortage of doctors.
“He was the only doctor on duty in the emergency room and had been working for 72 hours. Exhaustion and overuse of manpower killed him. This was a death in service,” Osundara said.
He accused government authorities of ignoring the repeated warnings from doctors about burnout and manpower shortage. He warned that unless urgent action is taken, more young doctors could die in similar ways.
“We have said it many times — the stress doctors face is becoming unbearable. Many hospitals have very few staff. The doctors who remain are overworked, underpaid, and poorly motivated,” Osundara added.
The NARD president called on the Federal Government to compensate the late doctor’s family and to put in place clear staffing rules to stop doctors from working beyond safe limits.
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) also described the incident as “heartbreaking and unacceptable.”
NMA Vice President, Dr. Benjamin Olowojebutu, lamented the heavy workload doctors face and demanded an immediate review of welfare and working conditions for health workers.
“It is painful that doctors are dying in their prime because of extreme workload. There must be better health insurance, fair salaries, allowances, and controlled working hours for doctors,” Olowojebutu said.
The World Health Organization recommends one doctor for every 600 patients. But Nigeria is far from that — data from the NMA shows the country currently has just one doctor for every 10,000 patients.
Rotifa’s death has sparked an outpouring of grief on social media. Many colleagues and friends described him as a hardworking, passionate young doctor whose life was sadly cut short by a health system he served with loyalty.
