Kwara Govt, NMA Brooker Truce to Avert Doctors’ Strike
The Kwara State Government, on Monday, met with the members of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) over the notice of a strike to be embarked on by medical doctors.
The doctors had earlier given the state government a 21-day ultimatum to attend to their requests or face industrial action, but NAN reports that truce was brokered at the meeting between the state government and the executives of NMA in Ilorin.
While the state government was represented by the Head of Service, Mrs. Susan Oluwole, the NMA team was led by the State Chairman, Dr. Abdulkadir Ahmed.
Speaking at the meeting, Oluwole, while acknowledging the demands of the doctors, said most of the issues raised were not peculiar to the medical profession.
She noted that the state government was already taking steps to alleviate the problems and enhance the welfare of the entire workers.
Oluwole enjoined members of the association to exercise restraint, stressing that the threat to embark on strike was uncalled for at the moment.
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“Government has massive plans for the revival of particularly the health sector and by the time it is concluded, nobody will have reason to go to Japan,” she added.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Abubakar Ayinla, acknowledged the efforts of the present administration at repositioning the health sector.
He noted that the state government had ensured regular payment of doctors’ salaries a priority, in addition to improving the working facilities in the hospitals.
In his reaction, the NMA chairman said that the workload on medical doctors working with the state government was massive due to insufficient qualified hands.
He noted that there had been low response to the advertised employment of new doctors and attributed it to the poor welfare of medical officers.
Ahmed called on the government to urgently look into the improvement of salary and hazard allowance of the doctors in order to make the state attractive for qualified health professionals.
