President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the sack of doctors across federal hospitals in Nigeria, citing the current challenges facing the health sector as the reason for the action.
The doctors under the auspices of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) had embarked on a strike to press home their demand for an improvement in their welfare on July 1 and several attempts to resolve the issue have ended in a stalemate.
The government had earlier accused the doctors of neglecting their oath to protect lives and continue to turn down the request to suspend the strike, particularly during the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus and the ongoing insurgency in some parts of the country.
In a letter signed on behalf of the health minister by L. N. Awute, a permanent secretary in the ministry of health, the president ordered that the action should take immediate effect.
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“President Goodluck Jonathan has suspended the residency training programme for doctors in Nigeria indefinitely for the purposes of appraising the challenges facing the health sector,” read the letter.
“In line with the above, the Honourable Minister has directed that you issue letters of termination of Residency Training appointment to the affected Resident Doctors in your Hospital immediately.
“The Board of Management is to take all necessary measures to immediately restore full medical services in your hospital. Note however this is without prejudice to the employment of Locum Physicians on six months renewable contract tied to productivity and good behavior.”
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In an interview with TheCable, one of the affected doctors condemned the development, stating that it is an indication that government does not know its priority.
“The federal government should have asked the government of Lagos state that tried toeing that lane, the end result of such action,” she said.
“Simply because we demanded for our rights they are attempting to intimidate us. Anyway, let us see who blinks first.”
A source told TheCable that the federal government had directed that locum doctors and doctors in military hospitals should be employed pending the time that the doctors are replaced.
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Governor Babatunde Fashola adopted a similar stance when the medical doctors in Lagos State went on strike two years ago before the crisis was finally resolved.
*Additional reporting by Ada Igboanugo
117 comments
Another Jonah blunder: locum doctors in what capacity? Can d consultants cope? I think not. For some of us doctors not in direct employment of government, this time around, this struggle becomes our struggle and this rash wave of poor judgement and injustice will not stand.
I think the leadership of NMA must stand firm and remain focused. The struggle has turned 360°. The consultant in the NMA must not abandon the resident doctors – the life wire of the teaching hospitals.
The struggle must continue in all fronts in the public domain!
Solidarity for ever
Gok Ak or whatever. In fact I would have loved to know your real name and possibly your person. We need to act responsibly in this country. This is Presidential directive, you know? Pray, In which part of the World the senseless strike actions we played to in this country is obtained? Locum Doctors may do better than some of you (if you are a doctor) that are living large on Government’s pay roll with little or no output to show for it. The Doctors that could not save Dora Akunyili. The Doctors that could not save Umaru Dikko……..the Nigerian Doctors that could not save Late President Ya’adua, even the poor Liberian Saywer! It’s a pity. the President has acted well and I hope this Executive action would send signal to other Nigerian workers on Government’s payroll who desire robust perquisites but with little or no outputs.
May God save Nigeria.
You are uneducated. You haven’t the slightest clue what your president has done. You have no idea how this impacts the citizens of Nigeria. Just pray to God that none of your family members fall sick and needs the help of a trained doctor.
You are irrational. Sawyer ke
ADE or whatever. Which presidential directive? You are obviously one of the many Nigerians who are ready to continue smiling while suffering. How dare you compare Nigeria with other better countries of the world, others don’t joke with welfare! Do your research well Doctors went on strike in England and Ireland on June 21, 2012. It lasted for just 24hrs! A reasonable government knows the impact of strike. A rotten system like Nigeria’s will not see anything bad in it. You are talking as if you don’t know anything about Nigeria, until you learn how to demand for what you are due for, those politicians and the self acclaimed elder statesmen will eat your present and future! Let them spend the money they are stealing on appropriate issues. You obviously don’t understand what “staff welfare” means. Massive sack will only attract additional hatred and distrust.
Ade, dont rant ignorantly about situations. The Dr’s are striking so that they can be trained in a way that they would be able to treat you and your family should incase u find yourselves with the conditions like those of Akunyili, Yar’adua and Dikko. They are striking for better infrastructure in the hospitals and much more… But if you would rather be treated by a poorly trained Dr (or an untrained one as the case would be henceforth) then keep nodding in agreement with the drunks in power. But remember one thing, they have the money and access to fast jets to fly them out if they have even a slight headache, What about you?
They are not striking for better infrastructure. Read their 24 demands on osundefender. They are striking for selfish and childish reasons. They want to continue to run the hospitals even when they spent years reading medical books and know nothng about administration (No wonder ours is d most horrible health system in the world),even when hospitals in developed nations are not run by doctors but health administrations and managers who have experience and training in management; they want government to increase their pay wit a mandate that fellow healthworkers’ salaries should not be increased or all hell would be let lose. They want house officers to be converted to resident doctors ( doctors on govt scholarship) automatically. They want to head pharmacy, medical lab, nursing department etc., they want government to retrench other health professionals and privatize their roles while keeping doctors on govt payroll. Tell me how any of these benefits the public or the common Nigerian. They are a measure of doctors’ callousness and obscene vanity and greed.
Ade, why do you want to know his real name or person? attack the message, not the messenger. This is presidential directive??? like seriously? There is no part of the world that issues like this crop up. Desperate situations call for desperate measures. The doctors that could not save Dora, Yaradua blah blah. Doctors dont have the power of life and death. They only try. BTW, thats one of the reasons doctors are on strike. They are under-equipped and over-worked yet you expect the same quality of treatment you’d expect from norway or finland. You people know little to nothing about what pans out in the health sector. Locum doctors??? i laugh in swahili.
ADE, You obviously are not well informed. Dora died from endometrial cancer. There is no cure & I hope you know that at least. Sawyer died from Ebola. If you have been aware of the news & you are not being mischievous, you would know that there were no approved drugs or vaccines for the condition at the time Sawyer died. You may also be aware that a Spsnish priest died while on the experimental drug in SPAIN.You obviously do not know how the medical profession works & how Nigerian doctors whom you have so insulted in your post work with nothing to serve you & many other Nigerians. This strike was about the Nigerian patient.. There is no place in the world with a working health system where patients in public hospitsls belong to non-doctors. Doctors bear ultimate responsibility for patients all over the world. The government of your “beloved ” President has just destroyed our health system & in your uneducated post, you cheered him on. No Consultant will work with a locum doctor. Please ensure that you get properly educated on issues before you post something in the public domain. What you have just done constitutes an abuse of social media.
I don’t believe people like Ade do exist. With people like you, Nigeria is finished. Such an ignorant and senseless comment. Where did Dora die? What of Dikko? Was it not d same useless government that destroyed health sector? And for your information, Nigeria doctors are good but we lack good facilities.
ADE, you really need to sit down, think and analyze the situation critically. Are you expecting the doctors to work with air or water to treat their patients? I hope you don’t fall sick before you realize how terrible the health sector is in this country. You can go to the hospital wards and ask the patients how they are coping with their conditions, let me enlighten you a little because am not sure you will go and find out. To start with, as basic as water is, it barely runs on the ward let alone in the restrooms. How than can the patients at least wash their hands even if they can’t have their bathe? Ade, you are apparently healthy and am sure you sleep on a mattress, for your information patients struggle to get a bed space in our hospitals and those you get one immediately would only use it because they are sick.
Believed me, you don’t want to fall sick before you realize that medical students and doctors donate almost everyday before they can start up their line of management. Let the government wake up and open up listening ears. Doctors have nothing to work with.
Since Nigerian doctors cudnt save these people, pls tell me if the doctors the ran to overseas with all their sophisticated equipments cud save them. You forget that there are things that even d best hospitals in the world can do nothing about.we are talking about improving the conditions of both patients and doctors in the country. If u were a doctor, u will understand that residency makes d doctor anywhere in the world. Jonathan got it really wrong.
very good, i heard someone say U̶̲̥̅̊ r fighting ₰o doctors can be trained better…..all the government is saying is D̶̲̥̅̊ãτ̲̅ if U̶̲̥̅̊ must be better then U̶̲̥̅̊ must now pay from ur pocket to get that extra training… government has realised that U̶̲̥̅̊ guys are simply ungrateful n greedy.
I have never been a fan of Jonathan from day one but on this i stand with him. Doctors are suppose to be respectable personality. What they are asking for is not justifiable. How would student (resident doctors) dictate to nigeria. Its odd, we av survive without them and they are not God
Lovely. What a welcome development. Now FG is acting.
seriouslly,whosoever advised GEJ to do ds did a great disservice not only to him but also to d nation.I can see mass exodus of Nigerian doctors
Spot on
What has happened may seem presidential BUT in fact is really PATHETIC AND MISGUIDED! I expect the President to go the extra mile and proscribe the NMA as resident doctors under the umbrella of NARD are not striking in isolation! Mr. President should know fully well that he has started a battle he cannot win. The ‘prospective’ locum doctors, medical officers, house-officers and even consultants are ALL bona-fide members of the NMA. EXPECT MASS EXODUS OF DOCTORS FROM THE COUNTRY. And for your information IBB virtually was incensed when doctors were exiting the shores of Nigeria in the 1980s in the so-called BRAIN DRAIN. These same doctors Ade condemns excelled where ever they went and were properly equipped, supported, appreciated and remunerated. A word is enough for the wise!
mass exodus to where please? Have we really felt the effects of the strike when private hospitals are flourishing? Doctors are just been selfish. The forgot the oat they took and they are behaving like politicians. The doctors in the private sector are they not trained? This will make private hospital more viable and reduce the burden on government.
A case of misplaced priority…
An Ill-advised presidency!
Poor judgement here. Doctors will migrate or open up private hospitals which the average Nigerian won’t be able to afford. If this is how this government thinks, I now see why Boko Haram has persisted. I now see why the Chibok girls are still missing. For God ‘s sake, who gives President Jonathan all these ideas?
How would u make ur money if average Nigerians cannot access ur clinics. When we have clinics in every lane we would know how you can make the money.
In the current trying times in the Country, they should have suspended the strike on humanitarian grounds. I tell you ,they would have gotten 120% of their demands!
lol. 120% abi? what post are you running for come 2015?
Sir, with due respect, were you aware of bomb blast victims up north who received adequate care despite d strike? Needed resources are not available! The health sector is being run on d blood ofmedi al personnels esp. the doctors on whom d heavy burden of taking responsibility for d total care of d patient lies! The Govt, is only looking for excuses to cover their lapses n irresponsibility. Are doctors immortal? So they should call off their strike cos of Ebola which obviously ourgovt is not putting up convincing structures in place? They will only end up as matyrs for no noble cause! The Federal govt should know this; a child may have clothes like d elders but never as much rags! Nigerians should stop being selfish n know that Doctors are not mad, there really must be serious issues @ stake for them to be this resolute.Cutting d head off will never be the right medicine for a headache…
The mistakes doctors make is that they always forget they can’t work in isolation. Had it been it was a team fight to improve health care in nigeria, the pharmacists, nurses etc would have supported. All we need is a health system where everyone will work as a team.
On dis issue, I completely agree wit d Govt decision. Wat possible xcuse wil exonerate our Nigerian doctors 4rm suspending dia strike 4 such emergency currently bedeviling d health sector n d Nigeria society in general
Wat miracle are you expecting the Dr’s to perform to save you from Ebola? Do you want a prescription to wash ur hands or to take care of yourself and your environment? Educate yourself and your family about Ebola my friend!
I am sorry for the poor nigerians especially u guys that are praising Jonathan out of ignorance.
Gok AK. You are completely wrong. Doctors are highly paid compared to others, why strike at this time, even because of ebola virus they should call off the strike for the sake of nigerians.
These locum Dr’s, who are they and where are they coming from? Is it the sacked Resident Dr’s would be employed or is Oga Jona outsourcing the health sector?
I was gonna ask the same question o. locum doctors my foot.
How many Nigerians think is beyond me. These doctors u castigate for striking, are they the ones that should risk their lives treating Ebola victims when basic issues regarding their welfare and well being haven’t been resolved by govt. You applaud d govts decision Abi, let’s see how u will do so when the federal hospitals are privatized and Nigerians start paying through their nose for medicare.
How much you have benefitted from the ignorance of most Nigerians is beyond me! If only the common Nigerian knew that doctors’ roles are less needed in the control , diagnosis or management of Ebola than those of nurses and Medical Lab Scientists/ Virologists/ Immunologists, then they’d disregard your comment. Did you even know about Ebola virus before now? Do you know how to test for it in the lab? Do you know the structure or the shape? Doctors dont know science. Will you be patient and humble to spend time to look after an Ebola patient like a nurse? All you are waiting for is for a new drug to be developed by some scientist and you’ll answer a doctor by prescibing. If only Nigerians knew how to use their internet, they can get their prescription any time online. Besides they have a pharmacist to consult with, or even a nurse, or even an uneducated chemist. To the topic, the president did what we’ve been expecting. Doctors’ demands are childish and only smack of selfishness, greed and wickedness towards other health professionals. They don’t hav d interest of Nigerians at heart; they want to keep our health system as one of the worst in the world thru their oppression of their professional team-mates. For those who don’t know, resident doctors are naturally under government’s scholarship. They are paid to go to school and yet Nigerian-trained doctors are the worst in the world.
diagnosis starts with symptomology, (established by the doctors)which stem from understanding of pathology before lab diagnosis and directives on how the patient should be nursed. the doctor is first. it is a doctor and a nurse that are affected by the virus by the time it got to the lab they were told of a clinical diagnosis thus the lab man was prepared in his handling of the sample.
Yes, the doctor is the first port of call in the health set-up but it doesn’t make them the most important. The symptoms a patient presents at the clinic does not absolutely tell you what the patient suffers from because they can be overlapping. That is why majority of the doctors here rely on guesswork and load the patients with drugs which end up giving them nephrotoxicity. In developed nations, what is practised is evidence-based medicine meaning that you have to be absolutely sure before you start giving interventions. So, those times you neglect the role of the medical (lab) scientist or the radiographer, you’re killing people. No wonder we have kidney failures and non-viral hepatitis here and there in the country. What you have also failed to learn is that the training program of other health professionals have since improved and is subsumed in detailed and in-depth learning of the core medical course: Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pathology and Pharmacology. So, don’t think nurses and medical scientists are bereft of your pathology because you do it in just your 4th yr but the medical scientist spends 4 years doing all of pathology. And the nurse? They are the ones really giving care. Modern doctors do not touch patients ( except the respectable surgeons, of course). That explains why we have 2 nurses dead from Ebola already, and no doctors ( Even when we are told that doctors were treating Patrick Sawyer). Does it ever occur to you why nurses earn the highest in developed nations?
micky; you talk like someone who should have some sense in you but….you betrayed yourself by advertising your ignorance in your statement.
simply because u never knew about ebola virus disease does not mean others didnt also know..at least haemorrhagic fevers are being taught in medical schools in their lab. medicne class which is 4th year , perharps u first heard it as a post graduate….pity u.
From your point of view and facts, l guess u are a lab. scientist, now let me ask…is it not scientists in other countries that are making those discoveries? what have u discovered? ebola or zmapp? or u were not informed too..
thirdly, if the patient only need internet to function as thier doctor ; so they wont also need to consult any pharmacist or lab. scientist or even a nurse because the drugs/ nursing care, are all on internet and even a “common chemist” will have his small lab…
So “my dear micky” try to use your brains.thats why you have them.( because u think doctors are paid fat sums only to prescribe abi?). Grow up.
Student, you got it wrong. I can bet my bottom-dollar that you knew little about Ebola before now. I spent 3 years reading Pathology and you just crammed your coursework in microbiology, haematology, morbid anatomy,chemical pathology and immunology in one year!I’m right and mind you, the doctors we respect are those who can actually do something…surgeons. Notwithstanding, no serious surgery is performed in Nigeria and you are sure to be maimed for life if you attempt to patronize a Nigerian orthopedic surgeon practising in Nigeria. For the rest of you, we perform better diagnosis based on the pathology of a patient and can attend to a patient better. When they are tired of taking the drugs you prescribe blindly, they come to us to get better care. That is the difference! You cannot perform medical diagnosis (Laboratory or radiological) by going to the net. You have to learn the science and technique behind a testing module first, you have to learn to perform a ct-scan or ultrasound or x-ray or MRI first of all. You have to be physically present with a patient like a nurse to be able to give that care. You don’t get it on the internet. But you can google up anti-malarial drugs and their doses on the net, the same way you do when it becomes tough and you can’t find your jotter( you sound like a student).
The problem is that you’re too ensconced in your niche that you’ve become oblivious of what happens around you. Whereas you do Pathology in 4th year, a student of Medical Laboratory Science spends 3-4 years studying Pathology. The Microbiology you do in 4th MB is shallow and I can bet my last dollar that you wouldn’t remember Ebola because you crammed. So, when it comes to Pathology or the Science of infectious diseases, you don’t know any science. I did Virology as part of my course for 2 years in my student years and I can mention 5 viruses you wouldn’t have ever heard of. One day one of them will go epidemic and you’ll claim you knew ( Have you heard of Uukuniemi virus?). In addition, you’ll need to have both the scientific and technical training to be able to work in a medical lab or handle a radiology equipment, and the humility and training to be physically available to care for a patient like a nurse. You don’t get those in the internet, but you don’t need a doctor to know what drug or dosage to take when you’ve been diagnosed of an ailment. A well-trained nurse should know pharmacology well, and a medical scientist did Pharmacology as part of his core discipline. When they are not available, the patient has the internet to get all the right information; he doesn’t need a doctor. if he sees a doctor, he just sheepishly fills the prescription form with drugs without a recourse to medical test, thereby exposing the patient to the risk of kidney and liver damage. One of the doctors gave a pregnant lady i know doxycycline for chlamydia even when he knew she was in her first trimester. My brother, we’re in the practice and we know that we need doctors only when specialist services are needed as in surgery. Even then, the major surgeries are not done in Nigeria. I know that if any of your relatives broke a bone, you wouldn’t take him to an orthopedic surgeon practising in Nigeria unless you want him/her permanently maimed. Read about or care to learn about the roles of others in the health team and stop sitting on your high horse thinking you’re better than anyone because you’re not. Many of us would always study and practice our profession in another life. We never wished to be doctors. It’s a matter of choice! So, travel out of this dark country and see the world and get enlightened.
hmmm. @ micky
you contradict yourself; first you say the patient can get what he needs online, then you come back and say he cannot get it online…..
pray tell, which should we take?
since you have so carefully shown how ‘doctors’ are not needed; even the surgeons you so generously excluded you also said do horrible jobs; then, no wahala, now…. why not the FG sack ALL the doctors, not just the residents and then the other health workers take over the hospitals.
hmmm, but, let’s see… for the last 6 weeks or so that has practically been the situation; no doctors, just the paramedics…. then for goodness sake, why on earth were things not moving on and even better than before?!
please, GEJ’s move is ill advised.
the whole health sector needs to be looked in to and re worked.
personally, I have absolutely no qualms with any professional getting to the peak of his/her career. Great! be called a consultant in whatever you want; but in the scheme of things, everyone should know their position. e.g. a consultant nurse is a consultant at assisting the doctor and caring for the patient, it does not make the nurse a doctor or a contender over who has the final say on the patient’s care, that position is for the doctor and the patient hisself.
just like in the family, everyone has an important and pivotal role which needs to be maintained as such or else chaos ensues. imagine the husband saying i want to be the one carrying the pregnancy? absurd right. Ok , maybe that is far out. what of the woman saying I am the head of the home? that sounds more familiar right? and see the problems it has caused the world. And I am speaking as a woman o!
the doctors are not totally blameless in this brouhaha, neither are the paramedics. however all need to come together and SELFLESSLY arrive at a good solution.
for crying out loud all are meant to be a team…. but things are falling apart, the centre is not holding because anarchy is reigning.
let us wise up folks.
On all ends, doctors, paramedics, politicians….
May God help us.
Bravo! Let the ” consultant” nurses and pharmacist treat the patients and see how people will die like ants!
gosh, i’d be laughing loudly now if my boyfriend wasn’t an afectee, now hes lost his residency ‘job’. what we gonna do? he was already putting off our wedding cos of no cash, now this! waw.
How many doctors have died of ebola and how many of the other health care providers have died? Hence who deserves more hazard allowance? Nigerian doctors are so selfish and annoying. Pls younger generations of doctors think outside the box and do the needful. We are fighting a fight out of indoctrination by selfish doctors
I have many like you waiting to see me in the Govt Clinic. We shall leave your care you you and your colleagues. Goodluck to you.
@ naija girl above, first read well what I wrote. Then, get a dictionary and check the meaning of “paramedics”, or google it. Stop embarrassing yourself. You’re unreasonable to not see the point here.
What arr tneir demands? D truth is dat no doctor wants to even go back now in dis crises. Many of dem will die bc of lack of facilities. How many of dem has insurance?
In Nigeria we pretend a lot. We can better hoard money for election dan give it to equip our hospitals. Unfortunately dey r playing wit a skill set dat is not easy to com by & dey hav options.
big blame may go to doctors for insensitivity to national pain but i thought the decision on national pain and sensitivity to it lies with the elected leaders. why are the health, education, and legal systems here (strike)? is it not that our powerful government has refused to attend to the issues before they degenerate? i wish doctors will suspend the strike but the blame of insensitivity is with GEJ. he is no lover of Nigeria. this action will harden their resolve and you know private hospitals are manned by the same people, they are not jobless. the Nigerians that may vote for you will suffer and turn to ….
But why should doctors that are in government’s also run a private hospital. Is that obtainable in the UK, USA
Pres Jonathan needs prayers to handle the affairs of this nation. In sacking resident doctors he has just shown how ill advised he can be. These doctors need to be heard. You don’t go to hospital to see a nurse. You go to see a doctor and you want a nurse to be directing a doctor? Common reason well
Shut up . has any Nigerian doctor died of Ebola? Just nurses and others. Yet they want hazard allowance more than others
Doctors are not the only ones in healthcare yet they have managed to make it all about themselves only. I’m sure you are aware a doctor and nurse have lost their lives in this ebola crisis. both are exposed to risk yet the doctors only care about themselves. Note that the present Surgeon General of US army is a female nurse.
The surgeon general of the united states is a doctor. Always has for decades. Its d surgeon general of the united states army that is a nurse. Thats based on rank. FYI
Even wit ebola outbreak dey refused calling off d strike,dey enjoy seeing patients die!!!hw on earth do dey tink FG cn meet up deir childish demands,trying to interfere wit oda pples professn
i think it will be best to say even with the ebola govt will not answer them, govt enjoys to see people die. i dont also think they are interfering with other pples profession. you know that when our govt privatises the hospitals the pharmacy, labs, cleaning canbe out sourced or handled by different companies,then the hospital will be defined by doctors and nurses. i wish administrators or capitalist will run our hospital then we will know who is needed within its walls and all mouths will be shot
Let’s be sincere to ourselves, our doctors going on strike when we have medical chanllenges here in nigeria was not the best thing to do, and our president should have taken other alternatives to handle them, not by sacking them, we stil need them considering the problem nigeria is passing through
we will always have health challenges especially if we continue running our healthcare system the way it is being run so there is no better time to go on strike than NOW to hopefully forestall future crises.
Doctors have biten more dan dey chew. Cos u think pple’s lives r in ur hands u behave stupidly. Every problem has solution. As d for d young ones still in sch, wen u come out n join ur counterparts after swearing an oath to save life, u will be SACKED
Who wan go medical school knowing that you will be sacked.abeg, those in the medical school should apply for change of course o ja re.medicine in nigeria is not wrt the palava.sacked medical doctor, abeg apply for job in even african states you w be appreciated or just relocate to us,uk,saudi arabia.let the government employ foreigner and pay them fat salary since they don’t want their own peoples progress and welfare.we shall see!
We are not threatened! We can still survive in our private places afterall that’s the “privatization” so to say. NMA! ARD! We aren’t gonna give up.
The only answer I have for those who are blaming the doctors is how ignorant you are! What the govt has successfully done is to set the country healthcare back several years even decades back! Medicine cannot be learnt by correspondence and you cannot replace experience. Medical training is not like many others. Government is wrong, ill adviced and every day I keep feeling for Nigerians. Anyway I choose to believe that government is only trying to force the doctors back to work as this cannot work.
It is already working. You are mocking the ignorant Nigerians. Do they know that the residency program for doctors is a set-up where federal govt pays doctors to go to school. Tell me any other profession where members are paid to progress in their profession. It’s time government suspended the residency program. Let any doctor who wants to be a consultant pay the fees and get trained. Our masses and govt have been blind-folded and cheated. Does govt pay lawyers to go thru law school, or others to do Msc. Or PhD? Yet, our doctors are the worst in d world. We fly to a fellow thirdworld country, India for better treatment. Others fly to nearby Ghana. Yet, they make so much noise and want to dictate for government what to pay them and what to pay others. Thumbs for the president.
dont say what you dont know. the us dr pays for his training out of his salary and has change that is 5times more than what the nija dr receives because of it is privatized but also under insurance. can ou pay your hosp bills for the training of a dr and his salary? note that the cost of training one dr or any univ degree at all is so high that motagage is require for their training in us can you foot that bill here with out of pocket if drs are not trained? if yes let them open the health sector like telecom industry and removal of subsidy and traditional health will be nigerian’
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Don’t forget the law of demand and supply, with increase supply of health care as a result of more private hospitals, cost of health care will drop. Doctors will have to work for their money. Dat means more job for nurses, lab scientists, pharmacists etc. Doctors please face the fact cos this is wot is gona happen
My brother , if u are graduate that went thru a standard Nigerian university, u will appreciate what it takes to train a doctor. Not to talk about training a specialist. Did lagos state succeeded with similar action .
Pls ask others to educate u!!!
You need to be educated. Does it cost more to train a doctor than a lawyer, or a nurse or a pharmacist or a medical laboratory scientist? You wouldn’t know because you’re too selfish and egotistic to try to know what others are doing.
Establishment of teaching hosp is not profit oriented or merely 4 treating patien.an integral part of it is teaching of students @ various levels nd cadre;also RESEARCH. D 2 are long term investment of a nation in terms of human assets nd epidemiology.dis is part of d reasons Y sm1 can import ebola into nig witout it being detected @ airport despite d fact dt its spreading like wild fire in neighbouring countries. And dese 2 reasons are among d reasons Y U S is ready 4 ebola. Misplaced priority by govt. Govt. Nd people sh read d constitution dt back d setting ùp of téaching hosp.
GEJ has committed another blunder
Obviously some of the Doctors’ demands are not commonsensical, but Can 2wrongs ever make a right? there are other ways through which d issue can b handled. FG should hv allowed d RULE OF LAW to take effect. No Democratically elected government can just take a decision arbitrarily and sack an entire body of employees no matter d circumstances.
This reminds me of Abacha when he ignorantly dissolved many unions. Hmmm this is more of poor decision surprisingly by some one that has PhD. Wake up fellows.
For the sake of clarity,Prof Dora Akunyili was diagnosed of cancer by nigerian doctors, she decided 2 go abroad for expert management. D western doctors erroneously convinced her she wasn’t having any cancer.She returned 2 nigeria only 2 die a almost a decade letter of d same cancer she was diagnosed of by NIGERIAN DOCTORS.Is a case of a prophet having no honour in his home as recorded in d bible. Nigerian doctors are not valued.
The govt is inching towards the privatisation of the health sector. Some have observed this will mean high cost of medical care for poor Nigerians. But this also mean more doctors in private practice, more private hospitals and ultimately the law of demand and supply will set in. Looking at this wholistically, given the current poor state of public health institutions, it is one bold move.
ADE, i strongly believe U need some orientation…., u talk as tthough the doctors are God that the should have power of live and death to safe these people u mentioned. or what do u expect? the doctors should have donated her own heart to yaradua or uterus to Dora so that u would be happy?….pls think
this is just de beginning, on behalf of the unemployed doc, we are not applying for locum, the problem has just begun
No apply make we see who hunger go kill na. lol wake up man and face reality
Lindiway,weldone for ur comments.I guess u r one of those that fly out for medicare.do u think if their Govt are like ours they will there to treat u…
This is a big joke. The government decides to sack doctors because they can not meet to already agreed demands made earlier. Nigerians attacking doctors and saying they deserve wat they are getting should know that they are in support of a government bent on leaving the lives of its citizen the way it has always been – poor if not poorer. Health is wealth and deserves the best. No matter how much we argue we all know it is true. This period should have been a time to take concrete steps to put our health system in order but instead I foresee another wave of massive brain drain which may take us back decades in terms of healthcare for this country. So sad……..
GOD HAS HIS WAY OF WORKING.THIS IS A CHEERING NEWS FOR ALL REGS.IF QUACKS CAN OPERATE IN NIGERIA AND FEEDINING SUMPTOUSLY, THINK THE BEST AWAITS DOCTORS OUTSIDE THERE.
Doctors are just inconsequential. Instead of them to fight a genuine fight,they engage in a malicious “pull him down syndrome” of other health professionals.Thank God the federal govt has known how wicked and greedy they are and they highhandedness with which they have been cheating and frustrating other health professionals thereby decided to subdue their malicious ego.Nonsense!it serves them right.
Good! Since doctors are inconsequetial let the consultant nurses and consultant pharmacist radiographers and even consultant gatemen take over the management of sick Nigerians! No consultant will work with locum doctors and no locum doctor will apply! GEJ for 2015!
which other prayer are we to pray Mr man? our family members have been sick for the past two months you doctors were on strike. you were on strike and Ebola came and the truth is there’s no magic you guys would have performed even if you weren’t on strike. if Nigeria can survive two months without doctors we can survive two years
This is the truth…..the NMA’s request is a selfish one. U can’t try this in other countries; how can u go on strike for more a month even at this day of ebola…..I know your pride won’t allow you to succumb, but at thesame time you will all regret this.
The rich Nigerians know they’d be putting their lives in danger by seeking treatment in the hands of Nigerian doctors who do little but earn much more than the people really working. It is d doctors’ duty to treat, not to diagnose. The medical radiographers and medical lab scientists are the people in diagnostic medicine. Find out why nurses are paid more overseas. Nigerian doctors are clueless, egocentric and selfish.
you people did not get it the government simply said they are no longer paying for the training of resident doctors
they did not sack medical officers and consultants just student doctors on residency in government hospitals only those doing the same programme in privately owned hospitals are not affected in any way
FYI, Resident Doctors are not student doctors. They are senior medical practitioners who embark on Post Graduate Training to become Specialists. Their basic degree is equivalent to a PHD in other fields. Stop insulting them bey calling them student doctors. I don’t know what you studied but it took me 7 years to complete medical school in Ife in the 80s, 1 year for House Job, another 1 year for NYSC than a further 7 years to specialize before becoming a Consultant.
Ok Sir, but the fact they’re medical practitioners doesnt make them non-student. They’re schooling free of charge while practising. No other profession benefits similarly and you owe a lot to the government. First, you almost have a guaranteed quality life after your education, then you’re paid to progress professionally. As someone pointed out above, lawyers pay through their noses in law school. They sponsor themselves to Msc and PhD. How do you think you have suffered more in school than a lawyer? How do you equate your residency to the highest level of education, PhD? Some really enlightened doctors pursuing academics have gone ahead to obtain their PhD even after becoming consultants. What else do you want from life? For other professionals to jump ship and become doctors because you’re frustrating their own career advancement? But they never wanted to be doctors. We must not all become doctors, otherwise other human resource areas and specialties will suffer. Be grateful to God and government for what you have. If you were a doctor overseas, you sure earn whatever you’re paid, not here in Nigeria were you do not really work and get paid fat!
Does this govt knows left from right, how will this action help the country. they are just adding salt to injury. it just showed the level of maturity of the govt. It is NMA that is on strike, how does that concern the residency Doctors and Residence training. When the country is facing ebola terrorism, Boko haram not to talk of millennium development goal that is far away in attainment. The resident doctors are the active hands of federal hospital. Suspending residence training means the govt is not ready to improve health standard of the citizenry. Is not Jonathan but Onyebuchi that sack doctor to prove to his boss that is loyal, to gain his future political ambition. if not what was the intervention of Jonathan since the onset of the strike before now, is only to wake and issue a sack letter that he Jonathan is fast at approving? why is he not fast at looking critically into the issue. i don’t believe that the claim by govt that they have met 99% of demand is true. No body that asked for 10 item and he/she is given 9 that will not be happy. is just a political propaganda.
Let’s c how 16000 doctors can open private hospitals for themselves. Or maybe the private hospitals in Nigeria will absorb d sacked resident docors. Whoever is interested in his Job will re-apply n get a job in d government hospitals. It’s dat simple. Or didn’t dis same doctors c private hospitals before they chose government hospitals?
I’m a doc, I recently left private practice 2go into d public sector, now I earn significantly less than I did in private(I didn’t know this b4hand), I’m ok with it cos @least I’m in training. But if d 9ja system doesn’t want us to train in d public sector,
1. We will train in d private sector nd provide specialist services there, of course d average 9ja man will hav 2pay more cos d training will be more expensive nd fewer docs will specialize, meaning supply of specialist services will be scarce nd expensive
2. We will practice as non-specialists in d public sector, either sending out patients with specialist needs to d expensively trained and charging specialists in d private sector, or otherwise attempting to manage cases dat are beyond d scope of our training wit d attendant increase in mismanagement and mortalities.
Either way, I don’t see how any of the options benefits d average 9ja guy. But then dats d country we’re living in. Thank God I’m a doc, @least myself nd my family are covered
Let go all sentiments, semantics and ego serving arguments. By this action government will cause brain drain, evolution of doctors to adapt to the climes and situations, privatization of the public health sector and leave the masses including paramedics to suffer. All those castigating and the unfortunate Nigerian citizens will then come to realize how much they are suffering. At the end of the day Nigerian health system will end up like that of india where medical tourism in the country is driven by the private health sector. And believe you me, not one of them will employ a consultant nurse, pharmacist, lab technician etc in order to make good profit.
For the love of sanity, the government should do the right thing and bring health care to a level that they can be proud of. Is it not shameful that we Nigerian go outside for treatment to other countries because we are ill equipped in health care. Why cant we look beyond appendix and malaria treatment and see that many more people die daily due to lack of facilities and experties IN THE COUNTRY? Everyday we see people looking for money for treatment like heart and kidney transplants and joint replacements abroad especially india. Are we so warped and demented to realize that the secret of healthcare reform must start from the custodians being the government and that the only people fighting for those reforms right now are the doctors? Empower the doctors and every other health professional will also be empowered. Let us not forget that apart from those demands that concern the doctors exclusively, there are still those that concern health coverage of all nigerians by a comprehensive health insurance scheme and proper training of these doctors. Who else is agitating for that apart from the doctors which will benefit you and I. Will it not be a pride to us that one day people from other countries will come to us for treatment.
we are not unaware of the plot.This is a clear attempt at breaking the ranks of NMA and letting mediocres have their way.
In my opinion i agree with everyone both who oppose or agree.but i will say dat nig doc are too much they are suppose to call of this strike 4 the main time,to save life,one thin will are all suppose to no is dat if u throw a stone in the market and hopin it will hurt a stranger it might not it may end up hurting ur love ones.this means dat u are thinkin dat atleast non of ny family are infected sooner using on train doctor might be risky and it may end up spreadin and ebola did not no who is who
I laugh at little minds who believes this paid job is all there is to life. its a pity!. Those who know better will think otherwise
Be informed no surgeon general of United state but united state army only who is a nurse.Doctors are paid well in Nigeria.For other welfare and hazard, all the health professionals suffer the same in the hospitals headed by Doctors.They are the ones managing this money in the name of CMD.
We work under their opppression.Govt should at least listen to other health professionals who are patient and linient.enough of Doctor wahala.
pls next time no more CONMESS Govt!CONHESS for all.only difference in entry point.Bravo to Govt
How would u feel if u’r bin paid 5000 for hazardous allowance. Let’s all be rational and imagine wat dis doctors go thru.
Doctors are no more exposed to hazards than nurses and Medical Lab Scientists who handle infectious samples. If anyone should be paid more for the hazards they are exposed to, I think nurses first, then Medical Lab Scientists, then medical radiographers and then doctors. Doctors hardly touch the patient while the others are directly and more frequently in contact with the patients or their body fluids or tissue. That explains why 2 nurses are already dead in Lagos plus an ECOWAS Officer with no record of a dead doctor. Majority of the people who attended to Sawyer who are being quarantined are nurses or medical scientists. The common public only knows about doctors. Ignorance!
I believe this decision is right. Many Nigerian doctors, especially the younger ones are too involved in the politics of NMA and ARD which are not suppose to be trade unions than they pay attention to patients. why should other professionals pay to acquire competences in their field and a doctor will ask the federal government not to recognize them as a consultant in his own profession. Remember that doctors are feeding fat on government funds while on residency training. AT a time when healthcare professionals all over the globe are clamoring for collaborative service delivery to patients, our doctors are busy skimming to further monopolize the hospital management and the patients. it is quite unfortunate; we can not spend so much time on such erroneous and ill-motivated plots and still have time to think of better solution for our patients. Enough is enough, its time to serve humanity and live a legacy to be remembered for. after all, no one will remain here for ever.
Ther is nowhere in d world wie nurses ar trained to b a surgeon o.do u even knw wot it takes to b a surgeon.an advice perhap,if u dnt knw anything abt medical profession u’d beta shot up.
It is only God to protect all. You and your family are not covered. A doctor’s mum has been waiting for surgery for over 4 weeks now.
Truth be told medicine is not worth all these stress, after horrible 7 yrs in med school and another 6-8 yrs in residency training giving a cumulative of 14-16yrs to be a doctor/specialist. You come out to face the reality that every one sees you as an enemy including the patients you sacrifice so much to ensure you make them well again. Every health worker sees you as an enemy and will always stop at nothing to attack the doctors. Every body is a professional in his own capacity and we should do our jobs stop these comparison of professions. we even lie in other to get an upper hand during arguments. How can someone honestly say things like doctors are treat they dont diagnose, that they do less work and want fat pay, nurses earn more than doctor in the US, the surgeon general in the US is a nurse etc. However one’s training scope definitely determines his view and opinion. How can you treat what cant diagnose? what will guide your treatment and follow up protocol if not a sound understanding of the disease process. How does a lab scientist or radiographer or pharmacist make a diagnosis of millions of disease conditions like Asthma, pre-eclampsia, penile fracture, Rheumatic heart disease, multiple endocrine neoplasm, Neurofibromatosis etc just to name a few. How can one diagnose a disease without knowing what medical history, physical exam and systemic exams or the specific investigation to request. Medical training is such that once you consult a patient, you must make a diagnosis/inference before requesting for a test which either confirm your diagnosis or help you to rule out other disease. Please no one should be blinded by the taught that malaria, typhoid, respiratory/urinary tract infection and sexually transmitted infections are the only illness affecting our people because these are largely what you are diagnosed with by our colleagues in the allied health profession. Since we are always in the habit of copying the western worlds in life style, music, entertainment etc. We should also copy them in health and education. For example if we have a US model of health system, it will bring an end to this infighting amongst health professionals because everyone’s role will be clearly defined.
Doc, it seems to me you do no know the scope of medical laboratory science or biomedical science. If you did, you wouldn’t make it seem like the practice of medical diagnosis ( Laboratory Medicine) has to do with malaria and typhoid. Limited knowledge may cause you to fail to make the correct laboratory requests that will aid you in nailing down what is wrong with your patient. If you’re not sure that your patient is not presenting with an autoimmune disorder like Rheumatoid heart disease, you can make series of requests that will either confirm or rule it out ( This has made you dependent on the lab for a definitive diagnosis because you were guessing before). You can request for ELISA-based Rheumatoid antigen test, troponin I, CK-nac and CK-MB. You can even request for other autoimmune markers to spread your guess like APA, anticardiolipin, dsDNA, ENA, ANA or ANCA If you’re worried that your patient may have an endocrine neoplasm or a combination (e.g pheocromocytoma with anterior pituitary dysfuction), you can request for VMA or HMMA, an assessment of the hypothalamo-pituitary axis with hormonal tests like ACTH, Cortisol, ADH, etc. For neurofibromatosis, you may assess the genetic profile of the patient with chromosomal karyotyping ( one of your old consultants keeps calling it gene karyotyping to have me deeply surprised), you can also say by the tell-tale symptoms of the characteristic dermatological eruptions. As for asthma, in addition to your initial clinical guess, you can test for IgE antibody or multiple allergen antibody for confirmation. If you can’t get the serices in your local or district lab, go to a reference laboratory. So you see, the problem is you lack respect for other people’s training and think you are better schooled or you have a better knowledge of medicine. It’s a teamwork in the UK and US with everyone acknowledging their limits and working together to provide the best healthcare. People are rational there. They are not backward or avaricious or egocentric or impassionate!
Bad bad decision by GEJ, many of you saying it’s a good decision have no slightest idea the implications, I hope any of you family member don’t fall terribly sick in the interim because if they do you will know that residency is the soul of nigerian medicine
For the love of sanity, the government should do the right thing and bring health care to a level that they can be proud of. Is it not shameful that we Nigerian go outside for treatment to other countries because we are ill equipped in health care. Why cant we look beyond appendix and malaria treatment and see that many more people die daily due to lack of facilities and experties IN THE COUNTRY? Everyday we see people looking for money for treatment like heart and kidney transplants and joint replacements abroad especially india. Are we so warped and demented to realize that the secret of healthcare reform must start from the custodians being the government and that the only people fighting for those reforms right now are the doctors? Empower the doctors and every other health professional will also be empowered. Let us not forget that apart from those demands that concern the doctors exclusively, there are still those that concern health coverage of all nigerians by a comprehensive health insurance scheme and proper training of these doctors. Who else is agitating for that apart from the doctors which will benefit you and I. Will it not be a pride to us that one day people from other countries will come to us for treatment.
Poor judgement bad decision perhaps aimed at breaking the ranks of doctors,not likely going to work,perhaps preparotory to let the private dector take over, bad omen for the masses.Head or tail the doctors will win albeit with temporary seet back.For the public I think it is best to prevail on government to acceed to the demands of the doctors.If care is not taken our deficit of drs will get worse and for a population of 170million people needing atleast 270000 ddoctos that is ten times the current number of drs in Nigeria efforts should be made to encourage our drs to retain then motivvate them rather than create an excuse for brain drain which is both internal and external.For now lets wait and see how the cookie crumbles.
What has happened may seem presidential BUT in fact is really PATHETIC AND MISGUIDED! I expect the President to go the extra mile and proscribe the NMA as resident doctors under the umbrella of NARD are not striking in isolation! Mr. President should know fully well that he has started a battle he cannot win. The ‘prospective’ locum doctors, medical officers, house-officers and even consultants are ALL bona-fide members of the NMA. EXPECT MASS EXODUS OF DOCTORS FROM THE COUNTRY. And for your information IBB virtually was incensed when doctors were exiting the shores of Nigeria in the 1980s in the so-called BRAIN DRAIN. These same doctors Ade condemns excelled where ever they went and were properly equipped, supported, appreciated and remunerated. A word is enough for the wise!
The govt. Has done well to unleash herself from the hostage she has been held over the years. Again, she has taken a bold step in the right direction to salvage the health of the nigerian citizens whose right to good and prompt health services in the country have been denied for so long. The uses of hospital own consultants who will always be at there duty posts everyday and medical officers who will attend to patients at the out-patients department everyday will improve service delivery in public hospitals in nigeria. Resident doctors are students who are receiving training and should not be allowed to play major role/be responsible for the health of the citizens. Consultants should be permanent staff of the hospital but not working at different government institutions at the same time and should be addressed as the specialist. The chief executive of the hospital should be a pure health administrator who knows how to harmonize all man power, finance and material resources to achieve great success in our public health establishment. Other health professionals should bencouraged to improve in their capacity and jurisdiction for us to have a sound and wholististic healthcare in Nigeria. Privatization is not the best solution but the above approach.
Thanks all.
how will you produce new specialist for tommorrow if residents are not involved? what will house officers become after housemanship? who will assist in departments where house officers dont exist like ophthamology which you seriously need because you are short sighted
How would you know that the symptoms the patient is manifesting is what you have in mind as we know that a patient can show overlapping clinical manifestations? What you as a doctor does is a theoretical guess that can only be tested when a definite diagnosis is done in the lab. The Biomedical Scientist handles the patient’s sample which could be highly infectious. The doctor hardly touches the patient, so tell me, how does he get exposed? It’s only in Nigeria where d practice is bad that a doctor isn’t sure of the problem and proceeds wit treatment. Sometimes when they request for a lab test, they are wrong and do not agree with their inferential diagnosis. A good biomedical scientist always points that out. So, tell it to the ignorant public becos I hav been up close and personal to medical practice in Nigeria
The doctors strike was centered mainly on position ΐƞ the health sector n rendering other health workers insignificant , talking about the welfare of patients was not their priority. Let them be sincere with themselves.
OUR PRESIDENT IS NOW A MAN .I AM REALLY DELIGHTED AT HIS DECISION. THE DOCTORS FELT THAT WITHOUT THEM NIGERIA WILL FALL.MANY NIGERIANS DIED DURING THE STRIKE ,SO I WILL SAY IT IS GOD’S VENGEANCE.
Harvest of reactions, but I am not moved. Mr. President has acted reasonably well and I stand by my opinion. Two months without salaries and ‘fat allowances’ for the Nigerian Government’s medical Doctors, we shall see, who blinks first.
I think the Doctors should have suspended the strike on a compassionate ground because of the issues arising in the nation. The health challenge and the emergency posed by Ebola and BH should follow a collective and selfless responsibility to extirpate. The strike is arguably not necessarily in the interest of the masses. An average person in the street will doubtlessly see Nigerian Doctors as being wicked and insensitive to the plight of the Nation. Afterall, they are still entitled to their salaries for the period they are on strike. They could have attempted to be different by going on a strike and renounce the pay. Majority of the Doctors have private facilities and they divert patients with the outcome of exorbitant bills to be settled by the latter. Those who don’t have private facilities work with those who have and with their consultancy and consultation going unhindered. It pays the Doctors not to resume the strike as they gain freedom and more “monies”. Our Doctors are not Hippocratic Doctors but Egocentrically Megalomaniac Doctors.
the president should be very careful in decision making because an action can ruin a country. If politicians will steal money without questioning, why must professionals who fight for their right be sacked from active service. Do we want to promote illegal hospital? Do you know that if 100 soldiers are forcefully sacked 50 milt go in to robbery? Think about it .
Doctors should have known better, strike has never ever solved any issue in this country NIGERIA. even the so called lecturers strike, has not in the actual fact been solved. so let’s stop deluding ourselves at this time of Ebola, BH and all worth not, Doctors should have continued crying out loud without embarking on this over protracted strike. Any one who lost a dear one during this strike will hardly ever hold it against JG, its Doctors they hold responsible. To be frank , I strongly believe the injunction, “2 wrongs don’t make a right. Granted, yes, politicians at. the NAs, etc. squander our money, any one in his right senses should not worsen the situation for the ordinary man in the street. I suggest Drs should find an honourable way to negotiate their way back to work.
@jd.mass exodus of doctors to where…which country is ready to employ them..if it were possible for Nigerians doctors to get greener pasture anywhere better than Nigeria do you think they would have been ravaged with internal issues like this.doctors are not hot cake as you think.
LET’S LEAVE ego, ENVY, JEALOUSY, GREEDY, AND SELFISHNESS. LET’S SAY D TRUTH. LEADERSHIP N REBELLION. GEJ LEADS D COUNTRY, DOCTOR’S LEAD D HEALTH SYSTEM AS FATHERS LEAD D FAMILY. EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE LEADER EVEN AT HOME. PRAISES TO GEJ BUT HE HAS TO GIVE D DOCTORS A TRIAL THAN DWELL ON FEARS N JOHESU. FOR HE WILL SOON BE A PATIENT LIKE ME N U. THANKS
Sorry for the country.
govt should remove subsidy
make legislature part time job
and
pay all ministries, agents and parastatals workers equally based on merit and productivity. then there will be more money.