Follow Us on Google
From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa, Yenagoa
President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to take charge of negotiations with the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to end ongoing action which has entered its third week.
The National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity), in a statement titled: “Resident Doctor’s cyclic strikes” by the NAS Capoon, Mr Abiola Owoaje, saluted members of NARD for their patience for 113 days and their patriotism and dedication to duty bemoaned the insensitivity on the part of the federal government to the plight of the doctors.
“It is bewildering that, despite being aware that resident doctors constitute a critical element of healthcare delivery in the country, the federal government could not prevent this industrial action by fulfilling an agreement it voluntarily signed. It is irresponsible and dishonourable to habitually break promises made to employees. More baffling is that the government would allow this shut-down by resident doctors in the midst of a third wave of the COVID-19 epidemic and an outbreak of Cholera which, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has as August 17, 2021 claimed 1,178 lives in 23 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Nigerians are dying needlessly as the effects of the strike bites harder,” he said.
Owoaje while expressing reservation with the handling of negotiations by Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chirs Ngige, declared that Nigerian has fared worse in all health indices under the current administration.
He tasked President Buhari to use the remaining 18 months in his tenure to turn around the fortunes of Nigeria’s health sector.
