The villagers welcomed the new doctor with mixed feelings. They were relieved that they don't have to trek twenty, or so miles before getting to the clinic in Lafia. That is, if they got there on time before the doctor closed for the day. In most cases, many of the villagers were turned back or referred to the general hospital which took days to arrive at. They were also disappointed because they wanted an older doctor who has had a wealth of experience. Someone who had grown to the peak of his medical career.
Some were adamant preferring to go to Lafia. Many of them who had relatives nearby spend the night with them and then rising before the first cockcrow, they make their journey to the clinic before the doctor arrive. This was many months ago. So when the young doctor eventually arrived, many of the villagers expressed their displeasure among themselves because the doctor is not even one of them; a Hausa man. He is a southerner, a Yoruba. He could not even speak their language! How then would he be able to know and proffer solution to their ailments? They were also angry because no government representative was there to relay their displeasure to the big men in the city who only show their faces during the season of election and afterwards, they become ghosts.
This made many of the villagers preferred trekking many miles to be attended to by the doctor who understood their language. Those who could not endure the long journey stayed put using the village's clinic and in the end, it paid off.
