The Federal Government yesterday said it will not print money to pay the striking doctors.
The government took the position at the resumed stakeholders’ meeting on the doctors’ strike, organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Health, to resolve the crisis.
But the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), whose members are on the indefinite action, said unless it is paid, the strike would continue.
Finance Minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the Federal Government had no money to pay the striking doctors, adding that the funds to meet the doctors’ demands were not captured in this year’s budget.
She said: “The easiest thing to say is: go and print money. But you know the implication. I won’t mention countries that are near us. Some of them are in deep trouble today because of issues like this.”
The minister, who was represented by the Director-General in the Budget Office, Bright Okogu, said: “This competitive wage demand for increase is not sustainable and is not in the best interest of the nation. The wage bill has risen from N857 billion in 2009 to N 1.8 trillion in 2014.”
The minister noted that acceding to the demands of the doctors would lead to an avalanche of requests from pharmacists, nurses and other categories of health workers.
She urged the Ministry of Health to have “a common sectoral approach to this issue”.
Okonjo-Iweala said: “I recognise the 22-year wait. This government is trying to address it. They (doctors) should trust the government for its intention to do something for them.”
But the NMA said the error in salaries had been on for 22 years, adding that it magnanimously waived N257.03 billion of the money.
The union insisted on at least six-month payment or half of the N13 billion arrears it is demanding.
It said the arrears included the professional fees of non-doctors.
NMA’s First Vice-President, Dr. Titus Ibekwe, who represented the President, Dr Kayode Obembe, said the association would only return to work after getting payment alerts.
He said the issues of Relativity and Skipping had not been addressed.
The NMA president said the points of contention were in two categories: clinical governance and welfare
Obembe said: “We can’t promise to call off (the strike) unless we have a minimal thing we can return to our members with.”
Labour and Productivity Minister Emeka Wogu and the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Khaliru Alhassan, begged the NMA to call off the strike in the interest of suffering Nigerians.
“I appeal to NMA to suspend the strike, particularly on the side of human sympathy. I appeal to them to consider the reality of the day and suspend the strike,” Nwogu said.
A member of the committee, Babatunde Adejare, suggested funding the doctors’ demands from the Service Wide Votes, but the Director- General in the Budget Office opposed the suggestion.
House Committee Chairman Ndudi Elemelu suggested that the Federal Government’s wage bills might be reduced, if teaching hospitals were privatised.
Madam you are right.The problem is that Doctors in Nigeria are even claiming to be what they are not.This is why they hide in government hospitals while still fully working in some of their shacks called private hospitals. This is why they take pride and joy in going on strike,a thing that is like abomination on other countries. Nigeria moves to India on droves to seek for medical attention in India hospital.ost of these hospitals in India are owned by Indian doctors and most of the doctors fo not want to work in the public sector. But it is a shame that Most doctors hide their inadequacy and inefficiency in the public sector and still want to hold government and people to ransom. Doctors that knows their onions do not even care to work for government because they are sought after from many parts of the world. Most of these doctors doing shakara here in Nigeria cannot practice in England because they cannot pass any preliminary qualifying exam there.It is said that in the land of the blind,a one- eyed man is chief.Beni!
ReplyDeleteWhy don't we do something productive like pay them out of the $1bn book haram fund.
ReplyDeleteIt is nothing but egoistic complex (Doctors over Pharmacist) that is Doctors problem. it is only in Nigeria that one profession is claiming superiority over the other not because they have excelled and made in-roads in their profession but just for bragging rights. Same thing happened between the University Degree and HND Graduates. we put more value in amassing paper qualification rather than experience and what one has to offer. Doctors and Pharmacist should see themselves as complementing each other rather but with different roles rather than this rivalry. In the US there is nothing of sort like rivalry over who is mightiest. The government should clamp down on doctors who work in government and operate private clinics at the same time (this is not ethical) and will never improvement into the public health sector. Government should also call-off their bluffs by recruiting Military Doctors (from our various Military Hospitals across the country) and posting them to government hospital to save lives which public doctors had sworn to do in the first place instead of embarking on senseless strikes every now and then like tanker drivers.
ReplyDeleteCome October I think new thing will happen. Let them continue on their indefinite strike. God is helping people, though some may die in the process
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