₦airaland Forum

@Hardywaltz: Thank you. Our civil service system is fundamentally flawed and unfortunately there are people making a "kill" from it. It will take bold steps for us all to change our destiny. I have always known that we as Nigerians can do better. I wish there are very well defined (reliable) avenues to communicate with the policy makers, especially now that they know that non-performance will likely result in woes at the polling booth.

Dear Governor Chime:
I hope you get to read this or one of your assistants does. It is clear to everyone in Nigeria and in Enugu State (in particular) that you are one of the few dedicated governors with a great vision for his state. You have also overwhelmingly won the mandate of the majority of Enugu state to continue the good work.
Without doubt 7 months of continued strike and refusal to return to work by Physicians in a major teaching hospital in your state is unprecedented! I am not writing this to apportion blame, as I can relate to the government's position on the matter and still sympathize with the doctors. Despite this, I think it is callous for Physicians and healthcare workers to put so many people at risk, resulting in so many deaths and anguish among residents of your state.
Unfortunately, we know that this has continued to happen due to a flawed system and terms of employment of doctors in Nigeria. For the purposes of full disclosures, I am a Nigerian trained Physician, working as a Specialist in the United States currently. Before settling in the US, I worked in Nigeria and other developing countries, was a lecturer in a medical school abroad for more than 8 years, well vast in health management and therefore I am very informed in issues concerning healthcare workers. I am also not looking for a job. I am even not from your State. I am only identifying with a State whose government has shown that they care for the people.

The truth is that the continued employment of doctors as civil servants with no renewable contractual agreement in Nigeria is the basis of this problem of unending strike actions, hostage and often blackmail of government and its citizens.
I can recall that several years ago in the small island of Trinidad and Tobago, the government suffered the same fate. There were repeated strike actions that never seem to end, often provoked by minimal misunderstanding, mistrust and often political vendetta. It is clear that those who take care of our health should be well paid, but for how long can we continue to go back to the negotiating table with either side pointing accusing fingers?

Now let me share with you what Trinidad and Tobago did and it worked! In 1995, the government decided to offer all doctors working in its hospitals yearly renewable contractual agreements based on verification of service provided and on the job performance evaluation. For this group of doctors, government offered them a much higher pay and a bonus at the end of each contract year in place of a pension plan. Being workers on contracts, they were also not part of a labor union and could not go on strike. On the other hand, government made it optional for those already in the civil service structure to remain with civil service if they choose to do so, or switch to contract workers who were paid more, but had better accountability, with out option of labor union participation.
When this was first introduced, there were major kick-backs as would be expected, but surely but slowly more and more doctors choose to leave the civil service and sign up as contract workers. Although government paid these workers more, there was better accountability of their time as they were made to take on more well defined responsibilities. The system became more efficient and few doctors did the work that was previously not accomplished by many in the past.
The result is that in only two years from the time this was introduced, Trinidad and Tobago healthcare system kissed goodbye to industrial action by doctors. Physicians became more satisfied, were better paid and government even saved money over time from the salaries of doctors.

Dear Governor, people with big ideas like you do big things. You have done big things in the past and it is time to change the tide here. It is time to be innovative. It is time to stand up for Enugu State. It is time to change the attitude of our healthcare workers, wipe away their frustrations and wipe away tears from the several families whose loved ones die during these disputes.
I urge you to give this a thought and I can offer myself free of charge to help you and your assistants explore this. We need to save our people, protect our doctors and do big things once more in Enugu State.

@ Princek12 : I understand your argument about free market. However when free market is not regulated, it runs berserk! The recent economic melt down in the United States clearly illustrates this. Nigeria and Nigerians are peculiar. Unfortunately, if you do not put a rate limiting step, landlords will use the opportunity to rent only to those who can pay more than a year's rent. The true economic impact of stripping people of their money by collecting long term rents is unprecedented in a cash economy like ours. With regards to a government agency, honestly we don’t need more government agencies filled with fraudulent officials. The courts are there, all we need is to make them efficient. Nigeria has too many unemployed lawyers who can be employed in the bench.

@Ayubam : Well spoken my brother. It is unfortunate that the average Nigerian wants the government to do everything for them. Government is there to create enabling environment and laws to ensure a civil society and for people to thrive. The law is there; if any landlord demands that you pay him more than six months rent at a time, take him to court. I live in the United States and I know that I do not expect the government here to do everything for me. I also know that there has to be a legal contract each time I rent a property. The Lagos State government has done a great deed for all Lagosians with this law. The rest of the States in Nigeria should take steps to enact similar laws to protect renters and landlords. There are many tenants who might not be able to afford a 2 year rent at a time, but that does not mean that they can not pay their monthly rents. When Nigerians complain, sometimes it is because they have not taken the right step to utilize the resources and opportunities available to them. Lawyers in Lagos can lobby the legislators to include as part of the new law, a provision that all rentals be entered into with a legal contract to be drafted by an attorney. This way, lawyers can tap into the real estate market and charge fees for these services. Wait!, before you start calling me names, I want you to realize that with this, both the landlord and tenant will be protected. The tenant does not have to be scared of his landlord making un-necessary demands or arbitrary increase in rent and the landlord does not have to spend so much money bribing the police to put out a tenant who defaults in their rent. On the other end, the lawyers in Lagos state will also use their machinery to ensure that there is speedy resolution of rental cases, that way everybody wins!

This is a disgrace. Once again, Nigeria has shown the world that we can't get anything right. One more reason why any smart investor can not invest in Nigeria. Absolute incompetence!!! This is a shame!!

"This is good news for the people of Lagos.
It is only sad that so many lives were lost before the government allowed reason to prevail. All those lives could have been saved if they had followed the path of common sense rather than useless politicking.
Some people on Nairaland must be rweally sad the doctors got their demands(sorry to those of you who thought it was impossible )
I only hope the government will stand by its signed agreements this time so that this doesnt ever happen again.
That being said, a good government should now capitalise on this .
To whom much is given,'more' is expected.
After commencing payments, far reaching changes should be made to the service structure of workers in the state to deliver maximum benefit to the people using those hospitals. [b]It is one thing to pay doctors well, it is another thing to have quality service.
i will suggest that they ensure regular retraining of medical (and other) personnel in the hospitals.
Change employment structure to fixed term contracts of 1-2years,with renewals subject to performance and doing update courses instead of the current endless civil service structure.[/b]Moreso, things like a dedicated complaint line for malpractice and errors should be set up.
This is an opportunity to greatly improve the sector starting from doctors.
I hope the sector will have some rest after all the health workers are well taken care of and the politicians have less to steal and 'chop'.
Congratulations to all Lagos state doctors for getting their dues(certainly not their worth, they are worth a lot more than CONMESS)"

"It is one thing to pay doctors well, it is another thing to have quality service.
I will suggest that they ensure regular retraining of medical (and other) personnel in the hospitals.
Change employment structure to fixed term contracts of 1-2years,with renewals subject to performance and doing update courses instead of the current endless civil service structure.", the best comment I ever heard! I am a Nigerian trained Physician working now in the US. I can tell you that I am well compensated for what I do, but I work very very hard. Just like you said, I am employed on a yearly contract, renewable based on the quality of service I provide. The employment structure for doctors in Nigeria needs to change. They should be offered better salaries, but they need to justify their continued employment. It is not enough to apologize to families who lost their loved ones and it is not enough for government to prolong their negotiations with doctors before they see reason in their demand. This has to STOP!!!