Nigeria: Govt urges doctors to shun strike actions

Health care

WorldStage Newsonline-- The Federal Government of Nigeria has appealed to medical doctors in its employment to desist from using strike actions to seek improved working conditions, saying, they may lose public sympathy as many avoidable deaths are recorded during such strikes.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal said Tuesday in Abuja while receiving the executives of the National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria (NARD) that the Federal Government within limited resources was desirous of improving the working environment of government medical institutions and that gradually, improvements will soon be seen in hospitals across the country.

According to a statement by the Director (Press), Office of the SGF, Bolaji Adebiyi, the SGF also explained that doctors in Federal Medical Centre, Owerri were not being victimized but that the problem was that what they demanded that the Chief Medical Director should be sacked, was abnormal since they did not have the authority to make such decision.

But, he said that they should have made their grievances known to the government for action.

He promised that government will look into the legitimate demands of the doctors as he urged them to consider what they can also sacrifice for the country in this period of national rebirth.

The President of NARD, Dr. John Onyebueze, who led the delegation, raised a number of challenges confronting the association.

The challenges, he said, included poor funding of hospitals; lack of critical equipment; the issue of improved salary structure; pension matters and the plight of their colleagues in Federal Medical Center, Owerri.

He appealed to the SGF to use his good office to ensure that government addresses the challenges.

Source: Adesanya Alao - World Stage