From Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure and Leo Nzwanke, Lafia
No fewer than 105 medical doctors working in different hospitals owned by the Ondo State Government have resigned their appointment
The state chapter of the Nigeria Medical Association disclosed this in a statement, yesterday, lamenting the mass resignation of its members from the state government’s workforce.
The association Chairman, Stella Adegbehingbe, and Secretary, Olorunfemi Owa, who signed the statement, blamed the trend on irregular and percentage payment of salaries by the government.
The association said some departments in the state-owned teaching hospital, which could hitherto boast of between six and eight medical doctors are now left with one or two doctors.
“Vacancies exist in the resident doctor and consultant cadres at the teaching hospital. These have remained difficult to fill due to the haphazard safety payments.
“We have it on good records that about 105 medical doctors have resigned their employment from the government-owned hospitals in the last year alone.
“Ondo State has not been able to engage requisite number of House officers since 2019. This has made our work almost impossible because this group of doctors have peculiar roles in health service delivery.”
Meanwhile, Coalition of Nasarawa State Health Professionals Association (CNSHPA) commenced an indefinite strike action to press home its demands for better welfare.
CNSHPA Spokesperson and Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria Chairman, Kyari Caleb, made the disclosure while briefing newsmen in Lafia, yesterday.
He said the decision to embark on the strike was agreed by the association’s members in a meeting.
According to Caleb, their demands include lack of promotions among members since 2011, failure on implementation of N30,000 minimum wage for its members and lack of annual increment.
The spokesperson said the coalition had exercised so much patience in its demands, “but we have been pushed to the wall.’’
He said in June 2020, the union embarked on a strike over the same issues, but it had to suspend the strike after persuasion by the government.
The chairman said after signing a memorandum of understanding, the government promised to begin implementation of the demands immediately, but unfortunately, up till now, the government had backtracked in its promise since 2020.
He said members of the association in all tertiary health facilities in the state had withdrawn their services with effect from Monday, June 7, till further notice.
Caleb said members would continue to stay at home until the government do the needful.
The state Head of Service, Nicholas Aboki, had, in a media briefing on Friday, June 4, appealed to the unions to suspend their planned action, adding that the government was working hard to improve their welfare.