From Abel Leonard, Lafia
The president, Nasarawa state chapter of Association of resident Doctors (ARD), Dr. Moses Joshua has said the mass exodus of doctors traveling abroad has further confirmed statements from various stakeholders in the country that Nigeria is a failed state.
Dr. Moses Joshua In an exclusively interview with Daily Sun reporter on Thursday in Lafia the state capital said the chapter had obeyed the directive of the national executives of the association to join the industrial action to press home their demands.
According to him, the issue is now an emergency loosing very vital professional doctors which the country is not appearing to address as it is putting pressure on the doctors that are on ground.
“We are increasing the pressure on already shut down health care personnel that we have right now. There should be an ideal doctor patient relations but the government is frustrating the efforts of doctors.”
“In a country of over 200, million population but having less than ten thousand doctors and many right now are leaving the country to look for greener pasties”
He said also that the doctors are right for leaving the country and going abroad where they have better renumeration, better working conditions, better compensation for most deserve job that they do.
Reacting to the on going strike action embarked the president said the chapter had since joined the strike as a result because of laxity of the Nigerian government to implement the agreement reached last April over issues of N5000 hazard allowances, medical residency training funds, salary shortfall among other demands.
We are fully involved in the strike auction, we are not working you could see for yourself there is total compliance amongst us and i think it will last for as long as the government listen to us.
He however, said even as a body in the state they have their own problem which is almost peculiar to the issue of the entire state in the country.
He therefore called on the government to consider the welfare packages of Doctors who are always at the risk in saving the life of the Nigerian people.
Also speaking with Daily Sun reporter from Jos via a telephone conversation, leader of the North Central Zone Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, Dr Abdulquadri Idrisu has applauded doctors from the region for complying with the directive of continuing the strike that was suspended for five weeks.
He blamed the government of Nigeria of playing politics with the general health care system in the country adding that “serving our father land is not to die while in active service” a result of poor working conditions, no compensation after risk, delayed payment of salaries, allowances not even recognised while politicians are living a luxurious life.
Reacting to the mass exodus of Doctors moving abroad from Nigeria, Dr. Abdulquadri Idrisu said Nigeria has a system that is not working but in abroad there is already an system that works that would propel a doctor to do their job with passion ready to sacrifice their life’s to safe a patient.
“The more people that leaves Nigeria the more the system suffers over here even we that are still around is because there is no means yet as no doctor would want to remain in Nigeria if he had the resources to go abroad.”
“Right now as I am talking to you some doctors in this country had not been paid the normal salaries more less allowances, the government is just looking which we perceived as unacceptable.”
The north central leader however, obliged that the strike action is actually affecting the average Nigerian, but appealed to them to bear with the resident doctors as that would further put pressure on the government bearing in mind that hospitals are grinded which could lead to high rate of mortality in the state and country at large.
He further explained that the association of resident doctors had for saw the situation and had already made efforts to bring to bear the existence of the tertiary health care initiative which he said would improve the health care system in the country.
“The essence is to salvage the average Nigerian citizen when situation like this arises could still be able to consult and access their doctors through Audio Visual format”.
He therefore Appealed to Nigerians to key into the initiative by the National Association of Resident Doctors, as it is giving one million Nigerians free healthcare through Tertiary Health Care platform during this period of strike so as to alleviate the danger of patient not able to consult their doctors.
Recall that Daily Sun had reported that the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors had embarked on an indefinite strike action which commenced on Monday the 2nd of August 2021 pressing home their demands ranging from better compensation, salary shortfall,5000 hazard allowance, residency training funds among many others.