Doctors in Ondo State have threatened to embark on strike if the government does not follow through on its pledge to revise their hazard allowance.
The state branch of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) issued the warning at their 2023 Doctors’ Week in Akure on Monday.
The state NMA’s chairman, Dr. Omosehin Adeyemi-Osowe, expressed regret that doctors working in government-run hospitals in the state had been paid hazard allowances of N5,000 for such a protracted period of time, despite the state government having approved an increase in the allowance but not putting it into effect.
The state government has reportedly pledged to pay it this week, but Mr. Adeyemi-Osowe cautioned that if the revised allowance is not put into place and paid by Friday, his members will be prepared to lay off employees.
Mr. Adeyemi-Osowe revealed that the state government had promised to pay it this week but warned that his members are ready to down tools if the reviewed allowance is not implemented and paid before Friday.
He said,” We have many challenges in Ondo NMA; one of them is that we lack personnel. Recently, we heard in the news that over 1,000 health workers would be employed by the state government. We are still waiting for the recruitment exercise to commence. Another challenge is our allowances. We have had a review recently, and before that review, the hazard allowance had been reviewed upward. Before the review of that hazard allowance, what we receive as doctors is N5,000.
“This has been reviewed by the Federal Government, but up until this moment, Ondo State has not implemented it, but we know that it has been approved. We were promised that there would be implementation in Ondo State, but up until this moment, we’ve yet to perceive the implementation. As of last Friday, the government, through the Permanent Secretary of Establishment, promised that on or before the end of tomorrow (Wednesday), a circular would be out. We are waiting,” he added.
Addressing the issue of doctors leaving the country to find greener pastures in advanced countries, Adeyemi explained that the government needs to raise their allowances and salaries. He also called for an improvement in the welfare of the remaining health workers in the state to reduce the trend of doctors leaving for advanced countries.
Speaking on this, he said, “In Ondo State today, doctors, pharmacists, and others are leaving the country for advanced countries; we cannot stop them; they have the human right to migrate, but what are those things making them migrate? These are the things we have discussed with the government; we need competitive allowances and salaries as compared to other countries, even if we come locally; as compared to other states, these we are not getting, but we believe they would come.
“I want to tell the government that at the end of this week, if we do not have that circular, well, it would not be bad for the Ondo State Nigeria Medical Association of doctors to go on strike at the end of this week if we do not have the circular for the implementation of the hazard allowance in Ondo State. The federal workers have been enjoying this since last year; from December 2021, the Federal Government has cleared all the federal workers allowance; they have paid their workers up until today,” he concluded.
The National President of the NMA in a bid to explain better what Mr. Adeyemi said, he said, “We use this medium to humbly sound a note of warning to all and sundry to never try to run Nigerian doctors down in any way but to always follow due process if aggrieved or in discharging their responsibilities. If anyone has any case against a doctor practicing in Nigeria, he should channel it to the Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria for an appropriate response, as the body is statutorily saddled with such responsibility.
“The NMA hereby expresses her displeasure at the recent media trial of some healthcare workers by the Minister of Women Affairs. We believe that such behavior is infrared for one that occupies such a lofty office,” he concluded.