By Haruna Gimba
The National Association of Resident Doctors, (NARD) has commenced an indefinite strike over the non-payment of 10 months salaries of some of its members.
President of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) chapter of the association, Dr. Wole Ayegbusi, disclosed this while speaking with journalists in Osogbo.
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 realize 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 actualize that.
Dr. 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.
