Doctors at state health centers across Ogun State will go on indefinite strike from September 1 over an alleged government refusal to pay their hazard allowance.
The president of the state chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Kunle Ashimi, confirmed the development to Newslodge in a phone interview.
Yet the government promised to pay the risk allowance, even as it urged health care providers to be humane in their dealings with the government and the people as lifesavers.
The affected hospitals, he noted, will include the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), all general hospitals, primary health care centers, as well as members working with the state health ministry and the Health Management Board.
On August 10, during its annual general meeting, the doctors’ association issued a 21-day ultimatum to the state government to pay the hazard allowance with arrears dating back to January 2023.
Various medical associations, including the National Association of Government General Practitioners and Dental Practitioners, the Nigerian Association of Medical and Dental Consultants and the Resident Physicians Association, have reportedly written a series of letters to the state government, issuing various deadlines but not got answer.
The NMA, in a letter dated August 11, a copy of which was obtained by this newspaper, said the AGM, as its highest decision-making body, has agreed to take industrial action if the governor does not address its concerns by the expiration . of the 21-day ultimatum.
The last one is expected to take place on August 31.
NMA said that if the government does not pay the risk allowance out of arrears in full from January, a strike would be inevitable.
NMA President speaks
The NMA president said the association has consistently engaged with the government, but nothing has been done to address the concerns.
He said: “It was because of the pressure put on the government that reported the promise to extend palliatives to doctors. Now they listed the hazard allowance under it, but the doctor disagreed that there is a difference between the hazard allowance and palliative.
“We had to write the governor a strong letter to get him to retract what he had done. Individual medical associations working for the state government have also written letters.
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“In June, all these associations sent a 21-day ultimatum to the government to fulfill this promise, but all the associations’ ultimatums ended on June 28.”
He said the new 21-day ultimatum was reissued after the government failed to comply with the one previously stated.
The government reacts
Although efforts to get a reaction from state Health Commissioner Tomi Coker were unsuccessful, as he did not return calls to his mobile phone or reply to a message sent by our reporter, a media consultant to Gov. Dapo Abiodun , Mr. Kayode Akinmade. confirmed that the government agrees to pay the subsidy.
Mr. Akinmade, in a phone conversation with our reporter, said that Mr. Abiodun’s administration does not joke about the well-being of workers and that the planned hazard allowance payment is part of the palliative already implemented.
He said: “Let me take this opportunity to assure the doctors on behalf of Governor Dapo Abiodun that this allowance will be paid in a matter of days. The governor already promised, and he was not coerced into making the promise.
“However, I don’t think it’s right to sensationalize the situation. We cannot afford to panic the very people we claim to care for. How would patients at various hospitals react when they heard of a strike notice? Doctors must also be humane in their dealings with the government.”
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