By Abdallah el-Kurebe, Editor
Anambra state government has faulted the warning strike action embarked upon by the Resident Doctors at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Teaching Hospital, Amaku in Awka.
This is contained in a statement by the Commissioner for Information & Public Enlightenment, Don Adinuba made available to Newsdiaryonline Monday.
Read the full statement below:
It has come to the notice of the Anambra State Government that Resident Doctors at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Teaching Hospital, Amaku, in Awka, this morning began what it calls an indefinite warning strike to press for an increase in salary.
This strike is a profound disservice to the people of Anambra State. Governor Willie Obiano did promise a review of their salary to make it more competitive. However, in view of the ongoing national effort at salary review across the board, the Anambra State Government explained to the Resident Doctors that it would be untidy to review their salary alone last month, only to do another review for them once the salary review of other public servants is concluded. This situation was well conveyed to the doctors through the Honourable Commissioner for Health, Dr Joe Akabuike.
More than any other group of Ndi Anambra, the Resident Doctors at the state Teaching Hospital should exhibit great understanding of what the present administration’s commitment to the growth of the hospital and its workforce. For instance, the teaching hospital could not be accredited by the Medical and Dental Registration Council of Nigeria, thus making the undergraduate medical students stay in school for a whole eight years without obtaining the basic medical degree and without any hope of obtaining the licence.
Things, however, changed when Chief Willie Obiano was elected governor, and he immediately went out of his way to provide sufficient funds to the teaching hospital to procure all necessary equipment and regents and hire more qualified staff as well as motivate the staff members and consultants in a special way.
The teaching hospital was quickly accredited by the Medical and Dental Registration Council of Nigeria, and it produced its first set of medical doctors. Gov Obiano gave automatic employment to all the new doctors. He provided greater funds which were so judiciously utilized that the same hospital, which could not graduate young doctors just a few years ago, was approved for training of medical consultants. Some of the graduates of the medical school are today Resident Doctors in the teaching hospital, and they are unbelievably among the striking doctors!
Medicine is a great vocation. Like other care providers, medical doctors have throughout world history been recognized as a group whose members lay down their lives for the benefit of humanity. The Nigerian law recognizes them to be on essential service. Therefore, they are, like police officers and soldiers, precluded from going on strike.
If any group of workers in Nigeria must embark on an industrial action, there are laid down procedures which must be followed. There is unfortunately no indication that the Association of Resident Doctors at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Teaching Hospital followed due process on embarking on the ongoing strike. Anambra is a state governed by law and due process, and our people expect all individuals and organizations in our midst to show exemplary behavior in all things, in keeping with the culture of excellence evolving in Anambra State.
Our state has in the last few years become famous for unprecedented social harmony. The level of industrial harmony in the state is unrivalled in the whole country. Ndi Anambra never imagined that the excellent harmonious industrial relations would be shattered by Resident Doctors at our teaching hospital. Governor Obiano has gone out of his way to raise the standards of the hospital and improve the lot of the people who work and study there like the Resident Doctors.
The Doctors are reminded that the casualties of their ongoing strike are not Anambra State Government officers but numerous patients at the state teaching hospital, especially the downtrodden who cannot afford to go to private hospitals for specialist treatment.
In the name of the people of Anambra State, we appeal to the Association of Resident Doctors at Odumegwu Ojukwu Teaching Hospital, Awka, to return to work immediately. We appeal to the doctors in the name of the Hippocratic Oath they have taken to save life to continue to work for the common good. We appeal to the doctors to give the Anambra State Government time to conclude essential work on the new national minimum wage before it could start paying Resident Doctors a new and separate salary structure.
