The National Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, on Monday said it
has commenced an indefinite strike over the non-payment of 10 months
salaries of some of its members.
The President of the Obafemi Awolowo University chapter of the
association, Dr. Wole Ayegbusi, disclosed this while speaking with
journalists in Osogbo on Monday morning.
He said, “We have started an indefinite strike this morning to drive home our demands.
“The most saddening part of it is that our members in the state
teaching hospitals have not been paid for 10 months and these are some
of the members that are rendering essential services.
“We need to realise that, we cannot be comparing doctors to other
civil servants because if they(civil servants) fall sick and doctors are
not well paid, they will never be well attended to.
“You will be surprised that today, some federal teaching hospitals
have not paid December salaries, which is unfair because it affects our
productivity.
“Also some of our members have been sacked for an unjust cause and
several times we have made efforts to dialogue with the Federal Ministry
of Health but maybe due to their selfish reason or incompetence , we
have not been able to actualise that.
“Most of the community people are poor and they cannot travel abroad to get treatment.”
Ayegbusi lamented government’s neglect of the country’s health sector
and wondered why they should ignore the payment of some doctors salaries
who were on essential duties for as long as 10 months and expect them
to be attending to patients.
He said that NARD had resorted to the strike because it appears to be the only language the government understands.
Ayegbusi pointed out that the strike would have been avoidable had the
federal government done anything with the ultimatum issued it by the
association, adding that the indefinite strike became necessary because
nothing had been done on all the issues raised with them.
He added, “We want this strike to end as soon as possible because it
is an avoidable one. I can see no reason why the Federal Government
cannot answer our prayers.
“When President Muhammadu Buhari came to office he promised to
fulfill all the agreements we have had with the government before he
assumed office but nothing was done even after the ultimatum we gave.”
(Daily Post)
