TheParamedics wouldn't do their work these daysbecause they are fighting doctors. They want tobe earning what the doctors earn, they want tobe identified as doctors. And doctors like Ikennahave borne the brunt of the fighting. That's whythey are literally slaves in the hospital. Thatswhy they lose their lives, and family lives,working to keep the hospitals going.The government now see them as students whoshould pay school fees, because JOHESU toldthe government so. "This is what makes it agrave injustice," the Association Of ResidentDoctors president recently said during themeeting that precipitated the strike. "How couldthey-the government, be so against theresgistras who do every body's work in thehospitals? Registrars who practically live in thehospitals, caring for the patients, twenty fourhours. How can the government be fighting themost hardworking people in the country?" heraged.And, anyone who has been to the hospitals willtestify to this. The average resident doctorworks five times more than the averagepharmacist or lab scientist or nurse. They arethe first people to meet the new patients. Clerkthem, examine them, make diagnosis andcommence treatment. And if there's anepidemic as we have seen with Ebola, they'd bethe first to get it. While going through suchwork- related difficulty, they are still reading fortheir exams. And so, for the whole duration oftheir training, they are literally in a furnace.* * *While the doctors were in this hell, in recentyears, trying to save lives, the other healthworkers in the name of JOHESU, were busymoving from office to office, from one mediahouse to another, bribing people, cuttingcorners, spreading lies against doctors, tryingtowin the public opinion to their side. And ofcourse, such an approach is bound to besuccessful in a dark, unenlightened country likeours and now, everyone sees the doctors asproud and greedy thanks to JOHESU lies. Noone bothers to think, how did all these begin?No one remembers young men like Ikennaanymore, nor their brave selflessness. Andthat's so grievously unfair.The mayhem started from envy raging in thehearts of the other health workers againstdoctors. They all started wanting to be doctors,to 'share' in all the doctors have except ofcourse in the suffering. So they stated going onincessant strikes to press home their agitation."We want to be doctors," they all chanted. "Weare tired of feeling inferior to the doctors". Andeach day they went on strike, they'd lock upevery property of the hospital, in order tofrustrate the doctors; they knew that thedoctors would easily take up their jobs in theirabsence. Of course this is because they do thelow tech jobs and any doctor could easily do itin their absence. I remember the day theyswitched off the power in the ICU and a lot ofpatients died. Of course the doctors wereblamed by the patients' relatives.On one funny day, this whole agitation of theother health workers to become doctors wentover board. That morning, Ikenna had justcalled me to help him review a consult whichmy unit gave his unit. So I went to the malemedical ward to wait for him. But, I nearly ranaway from what I saw in the ward. There werejust too many people. Anarchy. A lot of sternlooking men and women in suit and a lot ofyounger ones who looked a lot like pharmacystudents.But, I had something important to do, so Isummorned courage and went ahead to searchfor the patient's folder. But, the folders were nowhere to be found. The pharmacists had takenall the folders. And for hours on end, I couldn'treview the patient nor do my ward roundbecause the newly ordained 'pharmacistdoctors' by our able federal government, hadoccupied all the patients and their folders,rewriting doctors prescriptions and telling thepatients to stop doing what the doctors hadinstructed because, 'they-the pharmacists, knewbetter than the doctors.' And many patientsdied as a result of this. For goodness sake, apharmacist does NOT know anything about apatient. He is only trained to make drugs anddispense drugs NOT prescribe them.The nurses were in their own fighting mood,too. They, too had just been ordained 'doctors'on that rainy Tuesday morning. So, they hadswiftly elevated themselves above the very workthey were trained, appointed and sworn in todo. Works like wound dressing, sterilization ofinstruments, making of the beds, assisting thedoctors, etc. And that morning they were allready to resist the 'oppresive' doctors.I was given the scariest shock of my life when,after waiting with no success for for theaggressive 'Pharmacist doctors' to release thefolders and patients, I wanted to start dressingwounds because I had a lot of them to dressthat morning. So, I went over to the nurses andasked for instruments. Oboy! See fighting. A lotof whiny female voices started raging. All at thesame time."Don't insult us! We are not your servants! Youdoctors think you are better than us! We too,are doctors! Very soon, we'll becomeconsultants! Let's see how you can come andtell us to give you instruments!" They were allpointing fingers at me."But, that's the nurses' work now," I calmly put,because, I hadn't eaten and I knew they'ddefeat me, if I fought them."Which nurses work?" they all countered."See,the time of nurses assisting doctors is over.You people should find other assistance" Theywere still pointing fingers at me."Hia, O!" I was too hungry to argue so, I justleft them to go and report to the nursing headbecause, I was really angry. For goodness sakethey were NOT on strike that morning. Theywere just reveling in their new found braggingpower, given to them by the federal governmentwho had just signed their demand to be equalto doctors. So they all wanted to start seeingpatients and doing the work of doctors. Eventhough, the ONLY people qualified to be doctorsare the ones who have MBBS.Another ugly incident met my face, as I wasmoving away from the ward, leaving it for the'all-knowing pharmacists' and their sstudentswho had abandoned their own duty posts andinvaded the doctors'. You know, the buildinghousing the wards lies just adjacent to thelaboratory complex. So as I just stepped out ofthe ward, I met the ugly scene. The labscientists were physically assaulting the headofhematology department, in a jungle justice-likefashion. And story had it that their demand wasthat he shouldn't be their head anymorebecause he was a pathologist. The governmenthad just ordained them-the scientists, 'doctors,'even though they are not qualified to do doctorswork. So, they were hell bent on taking over thedoctors work in the lab. And any sensiblehuman would understand that this would bedisastrous for the patients and the quality ofhealth care delivery.Just for the lay man, a pathologist is a doctorwho, after graduating from medical school, goesahead to cover evey single knowledge there is,in laboratory practice and, merging this with hisqualification as a doctor, is then the mostcapable and best qualified to run a medicallaboratory. Unlike the lab scientists who onlywent through the University, not medical school,to obtain just a BSc, which is so insufficient inmedical practice. So, since the best practicesare what we want in our hospitals, thepathologist is the best qualified to run thelaboratory. Yet, JOHESU won't have this. Theyhate the fact that the doctors are morequalified. They do not want to be directed bythe doctors. So, they are fighting so hard toremove the doctors from the laboratories.That's why they are fighting to have their ownpeople put as directors of the different aspectsof the hospital. And this will spell death for thepatients because it's pure quackery.