Onoja appeals to Kogi Doctors to call off strike
By Omolade Olorundare and Agency Report
The Chief of Staff to the Kogi Governor, Edward Onoja has appealed to doctors in the State to end their on-going industrial action in the interest of the people.
Onoja made the appeal when he led other top government officials to a meeting with the executive of the state branch of Nigeria's Medical Association (NMA).
The State chairman of the association, Dr. Godwin Tijani disclosed to newsmen that the chief of staff met with the NMA on Saturday, in Lokoja to discuss the possible ways to end the face-off.
According to the chairman, the meeting had in attendance the special Adviser to the Governor on Health matters, labour representatives and other stakeholders in the State health sector.
The NMA State Chairman’s statement after the meeting read in parts: “In the meeting, we presented our demands as clearly stated in the communiqué issued after the last Executive Council Meeting (ECM) with the input from other members.
“The issues of alleged harassment of some of our members who made depositions on the floor of the last ECM as seen in the alleged video clip delivered to top government officials, was also raised during the meeting.”
In his remarks, the CoS said the governor is not pleased with the on-going strike especially at this time of the year, that the NMA could have achieved a lot through dialogue, advocacy and lobby instead of embarking on strike.
The CoS noted that the payment of 60 per cent salaries and arrears is not peculiar to doctors alone, but to all civil servants in the state due to the dwindling allocation from the federation account.
The chief of staff said that all issues of underpayment for old and new doctors could be resolved easily if NMA could collate all those affected including the financial implications and lobby the governor.
The CoS added that the NMA could achieve more from government by looking beyond salary; for instance, car loan and mortgages which could be facilitated through lobbying and advocacy.
On the issues of harassment of some of our members who played critical roles in the last ECM, the government promised to call officials involved to order as their actions will only create more enemies for the government.
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