Ondo doctors embark on indefinite strike over non- payment of salary

Medical Doctors under the aegis of National Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners in Ondo state, on Tuesday, embarked on an indefinite strike to press home their demand for the payment of their five months salary.

Speaking on the action of the medical practitioners in the state, the Acting Chairman and Secretary of the association, Dr Ismaila Busari and Ademola Edungbola respectively, said the strike action was necessitated over the non -payment of their salary by the state government.

According to Busari, the association decided to resume its suspended strike shelved by the medical doctors in August 2016, after the state government failed to fulfill all its pledges on the payment of their salaries.

He said it took the intervention of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and Elders in the medical profession in the state to return to their various hospitals last August, after an assurance that all their salaries would be paid.

He said, “we called off the strike following interventions from various quarters that the five months arrears would be paid when the state government is being paid the Paris Club fund.”

“The state government also pledged that the monthly salary will be paid regularly and as at when due and we agreed because we understand the economic recession confronting the country.”

“But to our chagrin, we are supposed to be paid August 2016 in January 2017 but no salary was paid, amounting to six months of unpaid salary. Our welfare are not being take care of”

He however said the association decided to embark on the indefinite strike after its emergency meeting on Monday and resolved that:

“The suspended withdrawal of services should resume immediately and that the withdrawal of service shall not be further renewed until all outstanding arrears are fully paid”

The medical practitioners threatened to stay off duty as long as the state government respond to their demand by paying all outstanding salaries saying “we must put on record that the failure of government to have kept to her part of the agreement necessitated the reactivation of the suspended strike.”