Jonathan bows to NMA Demands to Avert January 6 Strike
President Goodluck Jonathan has agreed to meet the demands of the Nigeria Medical Association so as to avert an industrial action scheduled to commence on January 6 after the association observed a one-week warning strike last month.
The decision was reached at a meeting called by the President on Thursday in the Presidential Villa to avert the strike. The meeting had in attendance, Vice President Namadi Sambo; Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State; Minister of Labour, Chief Emeka Wogu; Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu; Director-General of Budget Office, Dr. Bright Okogu; and the Chairman of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, Chief Richard Egbule, among others.
One of the major demands of the NMA that Jonathan has agreed to meet is the appointment of a Surgeon-General of the Federation whom will be a medical doctor; to oversee the public health sector.
The President has also agreed that the call duty allowance of the doctors running into billions of naira could be sorted out. He also directed the Federal Ministry of Health to collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment in order to consult with medical practitioners to support private investors to build state-of-the-art hospitals in the country.
A source in the villa revealed that Jonathan has directed that any government official should only be allowed to travel abroad for medicals, after its certified that the required medical services do not exist in Nigeria. He said that the President also intends to put more work in the National Health Insurance Scheme to make it more productive.
During an interview with State House correspondents, Governor Uduaghan told journalists that President Jonathan agreed to the doctors’ demand because the government could not afford another strike in the health sector.
“There are issues that have been raised by the NMA for which they have threatened to go on strike. They had a warning strike for about five days, so the President called a stakeholders’ meeting to look at the issues.
“We are going for a meeting now (5pm) with the NMA. At least, there are some things the President has consented to and I believe by the time we finish the meeting this evening (on Thursday), there will be some resolutions.
“Our determination is to ensure that that strike of January 6 is averted. Of course we cannot afford another strike in the medical sector. One minute of strike in the health sector by whatever body can be very disastrous.”
