CircleOfWilis:
Hope that medical doctors would
call of nationwide strike was
yesterday shattered as the National
Executive Council (NEC) meeting of
the Nigerian Medical Association
(NMA) ended in a deadlock.
The federal government had earlier
hinted that given the agreement
with the NMA to address all
contending issues, the strike would
be called off this week.
But in the early hours of yesterday,
THISDAY investigation revealed that
the doctors were determined to
continue with the industrial action.
A source within the NMA had earlier
informed THISDAY that the “strike
continues indefinitely, also, no
emergency services. Delegates think
government’s interventions are
equivocal.”
But speaking with THISDAY, the NMA
Secretary General, Dr Adewunmi
Alakayi, said: “When we met with the
government, we agreed to take the
resolutions to the NEC, so when we
tabled them before the NEC, they
were completely rejected.”
Alakayi explained that the issue was
beyond signing Memoranda of
Understanding (MoU), saying: “It is
not only about MoU, government
has not addressed the issues.”
On the clarification by the Minister of
Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu,
that government had heeded to
NMA demands, Alakayi rather
maintained that: “Chukwu is
speaking from the other side, he is
on the side of government, we
cannot say the issues have been
tackled.”
Alakayi also told THISDAY that the
NMA could not be harassed into
calling off the strike, “because we
cannot deal with emotions as the
outcome of patients’ care is
important. We cannot allow anarchy
to thrive because the burden will be
too much.”
The President of the Medical and
Dental Consultants Association of
Nigeria (MDCAN), Dr. Steven
Oluwole, also told journalists
yesterday that the real issues had
not been addressed.
He explained that: “It is important
for the government negotiation
team to understand why the
delegates feel so distraught.
“The restraint and caution of the
MDCAN should not be used to
malign junior medical doctors to
accept ‘suffering and smiling
attitude’. Junior doctors are at the
frontline of patient management.
“They work endlessly in the
hospitals. Sophisticated
administrative and establishment
arguments of why there should be
no skipping for doctors will not
placate.”