How RSUTH Doctor Slumped, Died After Marathon Shifts

Nigerian doctors are reeling from the loss of one of their own after the sudden death of Dr. Oluwafemi Rotifa, a young resident doctor at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH). Rotifa, popularly known as Femoski among colleagues, reportedly collapsed and died after working a grueling 72-hour call in the Emergency Room.

Eyewitnesses said he had just returned to the call room to rest when he slumped. Efforts to revive him in the Intensive Care Unit failed. Until his death, Rotifa was a respected figure among peers, a former president of the Port Harcourt University Medical Students’ Association and a doctor already registered with the UK’s General Medical Council, awaiting placement abroad.

The President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr. Tope Osundara, described the death as preventable and a stark reflection of the strain on Nigeria’s health system. “He was the only one attending to patients during that stretch of duty. The overuse of manpower strained his health and led to this painful death. It was a death on duty,” Osundara said, calling for urgent government intervention to support Rotifa’s family and overhaul work conditions for doctors.

He warned that burnout among resident doctors has reached alarming levels, with many forced to work double or triple shifts due to staff shortages caused by brain drain. “The few doctors left are overworked, underpaid and poorly motivated. Unless the government looks into remuneration and replaces doctors who resign or emigrate, this cycle of needless deaths will continue,” he said.

Osundara stressed that patients also suffer the consequences. “When a doctor is mentally, physically and emotionally broken, he cannot render quality care. Patients end up waiting hours for one doctor to attend to thousands,” he added, noting that while the World Health Organisation recommends one doctor per 600 patients, Nigeria currently has one doctor for every 10,000 patients.

Tributes have poured in on social media from colleagues and friends who described Rotifa as a diligent, selfless doctor deeply committed to his patients. Many lamented that young doctors should not be dying in 2025 from exhaustion, warning that without reform, both patients and doctors will continue to be lost to a failing system.

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) also expressed outrage, describing the death as heartbreaking and unacceptable. NMA Vice President, Dr. Benjamin Olowojebutu, said the workload on doctors has become unsustainable. “It is extremely sad to lose our doctors in the prime of their work, dying in the line of duty. The workload has now taken a big blow on the few doctors left. Adequate welfare, salaries, allowances and a comprehensive health insurance scheme must be prioritised,” he said.

Olowojebutu added that the NMA will continue to push for reforms on doctors’ working hours while commiserating with the family. “This death must count for some massive improvement in the health sector,” he said.