Doctors Commence Seven-day Warning Strike in Kwara
EMERGENCY DIGEST- Members of the National Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners (NAGGMDP), Kwara State Chapter, yesterday commenced a seven-day warning strike action across the 16 local government areas of the state.
Speaking in Ilorin on the commencement of the strike, the Chairman of State Chapter of NAGGMDP, Dr. Saka Agboola, explained that the association had been patient and had given series of ultimatum to the state government concerning their agitation on members’ welfare.
Agboola said that warning strike was meant to give room for engagement with the government on some of their agitation including good conditions of service, especially the payment of new remuneration to the members of the union.
He said: “It has gotten to a point that the wellbeing of doctors in Kwara has to be seriously looked into.
“We have responsibilities to our families, our neighbours and even to our patients. There is need to remunerate the doctors to get efficient output.
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“This is why we have utilised several fora at every opportunity to resolve our demands, but it is unfortunate that at the expiration of the ultimatums we have not been able to reach a comfortable agreement.”
Reacting to the development, the Director General of the State Hospital Management Bureau, Dr. Sa’ad Aluko, observed that the government has been making effort to resolve the demands of the doctors.
Aluko stated that it is only a question of time, adding that the state government met with the leadership of the association to look at ways to reach a resolution.
According to him, the state government has agreed to 70 percent increase out of the 100 percent that was asked by the association.
“Based on the total algorithm and internally generated revenue, everything has to be looked into,” he said.
Aluko disclosed that the state government had setup committee to look at a balance between what is being requested for and what is on ground.
He added that the government is also confronted with various agitations from other labour unions and must strike a balance while assuring that government had employed additional healthcare workers in the state hospital.
