Moshood Adebayo
The Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has warned that he would not allow anyone, or group to hold his administration to ransom under any guise.
This is even as he appealed to members of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, (OUTH) Sagamu branch, who are currently on strike to call it off in the interest of Nigerians in general and residents in particular.
Abiodun, made the passionate appeal while receiving reports of the administrative panel to the teaching hospital, headed by Dr. Yemi Onabowale.
While expressing surprise at the strike by the doctors, the governor lamented that the doctors embarked on the strike without due consultation with government.
The resident doctors embarked on an indefinite strike on Tuesday, following what it described as ”enormous persistent decline in workforce”,
The chairman and secretary of the association, Osikoya Oludotun and Ajose Oluwafemi, led the group after an emergency meeting on Monday.
Among the grievances of the medical practitioners were poor condition of service as well as alleged reduction in workforce which it added had taken toll on his members.
While receiving the reports, Abiodun dismissed the notion that the actions of the doctors forced government to announce recruitment of new doctors
“I was quite relieved when we received an interim recommendation that we should commence the recruitment of medical personnel, among which are the resident doctors that we have being agitating for .
So,we were quite received that the go ahead was from you and that was why we did not waste time in its implementation.
“ I understand that unfortunately, the announcement of that recommendation from you was carried out around the same time when the doctors themselves had commenced a strike action which is most unfortunate, because it now appeared as if it was their action that generated our reaction which is not the case. The committee had recommended to us a day before the resident doctors embarked on their strike action,”
“I am hoping to see the resident doctors have a change of heart and call off their industrial action to tend to their primary responsibility of saving lives, as government is poised to continue to listen to their plight and take the institution meant to be a breading ground for doctors back to its glory days”, he said.