Ogun resident doctors begin warning strike

The Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu, Ogun, says it will begin a three-day warning strike on Monday over non-implementation of its demands by the state government.

The doctors’ grievances were contained in a letter written to Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abeokuta.

The letter jointly signed by the ARD OOUTH President and the General Secretary, Mutiu Popoola and Tope Osundara respectively, stated that the association decided to down tools because of “the noncommittal response to several letters written to the government on the matter.”

Some of the doctors’ demands included non-implementation of the new minimum wage, hazard allowance, inappropriate remuneration, entry-level and absence of life insurance policy for its members.

According to the doctors, the alleged refusal of the state government to appropriately attend to previous warning letters has shown that the government was less concerned about their plight.

They described the purported increase in hazard allowance from N5,000 to N15,000 as a charade by the government.

The aggrieved doctors, however, said their members working at the COVID-19 Isolation Centre would be exempted from the strike action.

“We were taken aback by the arbitrary change in only hazard allowance to be given as COVID-19 Special Hazard Allowance to all health workers.

“The 200 per cent increase in hazard allowance is just an increase from N5000 to N15,000 for just the month of April.

“We are in quandary about how the government will put up a charade without giving attention to what our concerns and the real issues are.

“It is also unsettling to know that our members are without a life insurance or a tax rebate as seen with the Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Government and Health Professional Associations and Unions,” the letter stated in part. (NAN)