Picture:Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole (centre) engages Dr Jerry Uwaifo, chief medical director, Central Hospital, Benin City while the Commissioner for Health, Dr Cordilia Aiwize (right) and Permanent Secretary, Dr Phillip Ugbodagha (left) watch with interest during the unscheduled visit to the hospital
Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has frowned at the attitude of doctors in the employment of the state to their duties, warning that government would not hesitate to dismiss any doctor found wanting.
Oshiomhole gave the warning on today at the Central Hospital, Benin City when he paid an unscheduled visit.According to the governor, “our hospitals are not supposed to be death centres but healing centres, you are trained to save lives, but you preside over avoidable deaths by reason of your negligence. We will dismiss any doctor who is not ready to work”, he noted.
Frowning at the non-challant attitude of the doctors, Oshiomhole questioned “are we supposed to beg doctors to come to work? It is a contract, it is either you service it and you keep it or you don’t and you go”.
“We don’t have all the resources we need. But the little we have we don’t have value for money.If we don’t have a hospital, we should be able to tell our people so that they can go to herbalists”.
“But when you put a sign board that there is a hospital and you go there and there is no doctor, the general impression is that it does not matter. When they don’t see a doctor in the hospital, they will now go to private hospitals”.
The Governor noted that our people are already dying of negligence, so I am not bothered about threat of strike. “People must know that when they run down a state, they must not be allowed to thrive anywhere. What has happened to our values? Those who sabotage government hospitals, I will make sure they cannot practice anywhere”.
Oshiomhole advised “once we accept a job we must be ready to cope with the rigours of the office”.
“All of us are lamenting that Nigeria is not growing. How can Nigeria grow when we have poor attitude to our responsibilities”, adding “see all the women there, they came and discovered there is no doctor”.
Governor Oshiomhole who was there at about 8 am, expressed disgust that the hospital has been running for days without electricity, while berating the management for lack of will to act.
