Doctors in FG hospitals announce strike in solidarity with Lagos doctors

MAY 17, 2012 BY AGENCY REPORTER 8 COMMENTS

Doctors in Federal Government-owned hospitals in Lagos State are to begin an indefinite strike on Thursday, May 18, 2012, in solidarity with doctors sacked by state government.

Lagos State Government sacked 788 doctors in its employment for failing to respond to queries.

The government queried the doctors for embarking on a three-day warning strike.

The President, Association of Resident Doctors, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Dr. Adetunji Adenekan, announced the sympathy strike on Thursday at a news conference in Lagos, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

He said the doctors in the Federal Government hospitals would embark on the strike under the aegis of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Lagos State chapter.

The ARD is an affiliate of the NMA.

Adenekan described the state government’s sacking of its doctors and the government’s refusal to negotiate with the doctors as draconian, adding that the actions were in disregard to the rule of law.

The doctor said the sympathy strike was to show that the actions were unacceptable and should not be allowed to persist.

“The ARD-LUTH having followed these events closely from the beginning will like to state that these draconian actions of the Lagos State Government are unacceptable by any standard.

“We view the attitude of the government as an insult on doctors, the medical profession and patients.

“By sacking a total of 788 doctors, the state has succeeded in increasing the patients-doctors ratio to 50,000 to one.

“On this note, the ARD-LUTH as an affiliate body of the NMA, has resolved to stand totally with our parent body – NMA – by complying fully with its directive on this strike,” he said.

He said patients already on admission would be attended to during the strike but emergency units would be locked, while clinics would not hold and new patients would not be admitted.

Adeneken implored members of the association and other NMA affiliates in the state to comply with the strike directive.

He said the association would continue to work closely with the NMA to seek a speedy and amicable resolution of the conflict.

Adenekan admitted that doctors swore to an oath to dedicate themselves to saving lives but urged public support to the doctors’ efforts to rejuvenate the medical profession.

He called on the National Assembly to wade into the conflict to facilitate its resolution in the interest of the health of Nigerians.

NAN reports that the state Chairman of the NMA, Dr. Edamisan Temiye, had on Wednesday announced that the members of the association would embark on strike to protest the state government’s failure to recall the sacked doctors.

Doctors’ strike imminent nationwide… if
on MAY 12, 2012 · in NEWS
4:06 am
Email5
By Sola Ogundipe, Chioma Obinna & Gabriel Olawale
A nation-wide doctors strike maybe imminent following the initiated dialogue between the Lagos State Government and the national body of the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, which ended deadlocked yesterday even as the Lagos State Government has been challenged to publish names of the 373 doctors it claims to have recruited.

At the 4- hour meeting which had in attendance, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, Permanent Secretary, Dr. Femi Olugbile, Other officials of the Lagos State Government including the State Head of Service, HOS, could not resolve the fixation position of the HOS that the Lagos Government had resolved to disciplined its doctors and that the matter was beyond him.

To this end, the NMA national body is planning to convey an Emergency delegates Meeting to review the current situation and take a national position which findings by Saturday Vanguard revealed may result to a nation- wide doctors’ strike.

Addressing a press conference in Lagos on the outcome of the meeting, the newly elected National President of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Dr. Osahon Enabulele appealed to the Lagos State Government to quickly get back to the negotiation table and explore the windows of opportunity presented to them by the NMA.

Enabulele also urged the State Government to immediately reverse the sack orders of the doctors, retrieve the mass queries and to open themselves up for sincere and genuine dialogue towards redressing the issues at stake.

The NMA National president was in Lagos to seek a mediated settlement of all the issues in dispute between the parties.

Enabulele who frowned at the attitude of some of the officials during the meeting hinted that the national body in collaboration are exploring all options to resolve the crisis.

His words, “Lagos State Government should honestly take responsibility for all that had happened because what has generated the crisis is its inability to keep faithfully to the agreement.

“So, as expected in a democracy, it should be honourable enough to implement what they agreed to implement. Once they do that, nobody will have any cause to agitate. Everybody will work together as brothers and sisters and that essentially is the message.”

Speaking on the claims of the Lagos Government that it had recruited 373 new doctors, he challenged the state government to publish the names of the newly recruited doctors.

“If the government is sincere, it should publish the names of the newly recruited doctors.”

On the purported eviction of the doctors, Enabulele said it is totally rejected by the NMA. He said, “The eviction is not in order. It even violates the tenancy laws of the Lagos State .

It traumatises the sacredness of the human entity. So, it is totally rejected. It is totally unacceptable and the NMA believes that there are better ways of addressing the needs and the expectations of the workforce.”

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