CMD cries out over poor funding of FMCs

The Chief Medical Director of Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Lokoja, Dr Olatunde Alabi, has identified poor funding for infrastructure and staff development as the bane of development at the FMCs across the country.

He, however, said the reduction in funding of the centres was not unconnected with the recession that had affected the economy of the country.

Alabi stated this while addressing the leadership of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), who paid him advocacy visit in his office.

According to him, the inadequate funding had led to the deplorable conditions of infrastructure as well as poor staff welfare in the institution.

He, however, pledged to consider the   complaints and the demands of the the union with a view to responding positively as soon as the financial position on the institution improved.

The national vice president of the union, Bashir Suleman, who led the advocacy visit delegation, said that the visit was to draw the attention of the management of the institution to poor state of infrastructure and unsatisfactory conditions of service under which staff were working.

He said members of the union were subjected to series of hardship in spite of cordial working relationship between workers and the management of the institution.

Suleman listed the problems to include lack of staff promotion, non availability of staff quarters which had been on for years and shortage of personnel, stoppage of teaching allowances of 2013.

Other issues, according to the vice president were the non payment of 2013 promotion allowances, lack of training of staff and stigmatisation of members of the union as junior staff irrespective of their academic qualification and position in service.