The Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, may have sacked the doctors who embarked on a strike since September 28, 2015.
The state government on Wednesday placed
a series of vacancy advertisements at the state’s hospitals for
interested doctors. The advertisement was aired on the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation.
The advertisement was signed by Sunday Olajide on behalf of the Head of Service, Mr. Sunday Owoeye.
The President of the Association of
Resident Doctors, LAUTECH, Dr. Adeyinka Owolabi, when contacted told our
correspondent on the telephone that he was also aware of the vacancy
advertisement.
He said, “We are still on strike.
Nothing has changed but I heard the – government advertising vacancies
for doctor’s positions on the television. They are promising them the
stipends that we are rejecting.
“We have approached the court before this and we are waiting for the date of the hearing of the matter.”
The Consultant to Osun State Government
on Information, Mr. Sunday Akere, refused to pick calls made to his
telephone and also had yet to respond to the text message sent to him on
the matter.
However, the Head of Service, Owoeye,
confirmed the advertisement to our correspondent in a response to the
text message sent to his telephone by our correspondent.
Owoeye replied, “True and Yes.”
Reacting to the development, the Nigeria
Medical Association asked medical doctors in the country to shun the
jobs advertised by the state government.
The state Chairman of the NMA, Dr. Suraj
Ogunyemi, who said this while speaking to our correspondent on the
telephone, said any doctor who appeared to be interviewed for the jobs
would be sanctioned.
Ogunyemi said the national body of the
NMA was in support of the steps being taken by its Osun State chapter,
saying the association would also sanction any doctor who would sit on
the panel of interviewers for the advertised jobs.
He said, “Any medical or dental doctor
who appears for the interview will be sanctioned by the NMA. Any doctor
in the ministry or hospital who sits on the panel to interview any
doctor will also be sanctioned.
“The step taken by the state government
is condemnable. The NMA condemns it in strong terms. While everybody is
trying to see that the crisis is resolved amicably, the governor is
trying to worsen the situation.”
Ogunyemi accused Aregbesola of trying to
set the state on fire with his utterances and actions. He vowed that
the NMA would frustrate Aregbesola’s attempt to replace the striking
doctors.
He advised the governor to constitute
his cabinet so that he might get competent people to advise him on the
right steps to take.
The state government had given the
striking doctors an ultimatum which expired on January 11, 2016 after
which it threatened that those of them who failed to resume by Monday
should consider themselves sacked.
The governor, last Thursday, threatened
that the civil service rule to this effect would be implemented last
Monday but this did not happen.
However, the advertisement could be an indication that the governor had carried out his threat.
The doctors rejected half salaries which
the state government was paying to all workers and embarked on the
strike after the expiration of the ultimatum.
Meanwhile, the Medical and Dental
Consultants’ Association of Nigeria at the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital on
Wednesday started an indefinite strike at the expiration of a seven-day
ultimatum given the government.
The Secretary of MDCAN, Dr. Tokunbo Olajumoke, confirmed this to our correspondent on the telephone.
He said, “The strike started at 8am this morning at the expiration of the ultimatum. So, we are on strike.”
The MDCAN had last week given an ultimatum to the government on “amputated salaries” and resident doctors’ issues.
Nation
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