Striking doctors have been urged to return to work amid negotiations with the Federal Government over unpaid salaries.
This appeal was made by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe.
Oloriegbe stated this during a hearing of the Establishment Bill 2021 for the Federal Medical Centre, Mubi, Adamawa State.
The senator said that as doctors who swore an oath to save lives, it was their responsibility to fulfill that oath.
Personalising the experience, he said, “I’m a doctor myself. We took an oath to serve and save lives. On no circumstances should we through our action endanger any life to be lost due to our personal interests.
“We know as doctors, we have to take care of our welfare, but we’ve taken an oath to serve.
“I’m appealing to them that we should go back to work while negotiations and discussions on outstanding issues will go on.”
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Why Doctors Are On Strike
Doctors, under the aegis of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), embarked on strike action over the failure of the Federal Government to fulfill promises made to them.
The union, in a statement, declared a total and indefinite strike that commenced on April 1, 2021.
It decried the Federal Government’s failure to pay salaries owed to its members for months “despite uninterrupted service delivery to the nation.”
It also bemoaned the “paltry sum of five thousand naira” monthly hazard allowance of health workers.
In the defence of the Federal Government regarding the meagre sum, the Minister of Labour and Employment said that the medical body had not indicated an interest in a raise.
