NMA urges Fashola to pay striking Lagos doctors

• Flays activities of medical lab council

WORRIED by the lingering doctors’ strike in Lagos State, the national headquarters of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has called on well meaning Nigerians to appeal to Governor Babatunde Fashola to fulfill his side of the bargain to enable the doctors return to work.

The association which held its National Officers’ Committee meeting in Abuja yesterday, also took a decision on the recently concluded election of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), stressing that it would be ‘prejudicial’ to support any of the contending factions.

In a statement issued at the end of the meeting and signed by the National President of NMA, Dr. Kayode Obembe, the association also took a swipe at the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria’s recent regulatory activities in hospitals, stressing that only the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) could regulate facilities owned by doctors.

On the strike by Lagos doctors, NMA noted: “From May 3, 2014 when this National Officers’ Committee came on board, no state in the federation received capitation because of the industrial action. The association has been living on borrowed money. The Emergency Delegates Meeting (EDM) resolved that there should be a strike levy of N5, 000/Doctor. Many states in the federation, including Lagos, have not paid.

“So no misdemeanour has been targeted against Lagos in isolation. We therefore appeal to all states to comply with the Emergency Delegates Meeting’s (EDM) resolution and remit their strike levy to the National NMA.”

According to him, “It is the policy of the NOC that the doctors in Lagos should be paid their withheld salaries and all well meaning Nigerians should continue to apply pressure on Governor Fashola to do the needful.” The NMA, therefore, constituted a three-man committee to monitor events in Lagos and report to back to it.

Obembe said letters had been written to all the state governors acquainting them of the corrected CONMESS/Skipping. “It is expected that all the state chairmen would use the instrument of this letter in requesting for the implementation of the circular in their states,” he noted.

The statement highlights other outcomes of the meeting: “The National Officers’ Committee (NOC) does not discourage any health worker from reaching the pinnacle of his/her career. However, proliferation of titles such as Director, Consultants, which have key functional implications can cause anarchy in clinical governance of our hospital system.

“The attention of the NOC has been drawn to the advert put up by the Enugu State Teaching Hospital (ESUTH) whereby the condition for appointment of Vice Chancellor (VC) includes being a PhD holder.